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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: pop · band · plane · snap · bowl · tube · chest · mine

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. chest — a box
  3. band — a music group
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. pop — soda
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. snap — to click
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. mine — for digging
  12. tube — the underground
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. pop — music
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. band — a ring
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. plane — a tool
  19. tube — a container
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. pop — to visit
  22. chest — of your body
  23. chest — of your body
  24. plane — in geometry

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