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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: dip · pound · race · squash · bound · tube · rush · band

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. band — a music group
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. bound — certain
  6. band — a ring
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. race — humankind
  11. squash — to crush
  12. dip — to sink
  13. race — the arms race
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. race — a contest
  16. squash — the sport
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. tube — a container
  19. pound — a weight
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. bound — obliged
  22. tube — the underground
  23. bound — tied together
  24. pound — to hit hard

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