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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: content · trunk · band · rest · tube · date · straw · ground

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. content — happy
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. tube — a container
  5. ground — the earth
  6. rest — what's left
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. ground — a position
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. band — a music group
  13. rest — what's left
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. band — a ring
  17. date — the fruit
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. ground — crushed
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. content — the amount
  24. rest — a break

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