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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 124 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: wound · band · safe · ground · pitcher · bat · mate · tube

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. safe — a strongbox
  3. wound — an injury
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. wound — an injury
  6. ground — the earth
  7. mate — a partner
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. band — a ring
  11. ground — crushed
  12. safe — out of danger
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. bat — the animal
  15. mate — to breed
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. safe — out of danger
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. mate — a friend
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. ground — a position
  22. tube — the underground
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. tube — a container

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