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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: chest · mark · hand · can · cabinet · tube · band · bat

  1. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. chest — a box
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. chest — of your body
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. can — a tin
  8. mark — a trace
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. can — to be able to
  13. bat — the animal
  14. tube — the underground
  15. hand — help
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. chest — of your body
  18. mark — a grade
  19. hand — in cards
  20. band — a ring
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. band — a music group
  23. tube — a container
  24. cabinet — ministers

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com