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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 116 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: rock · rule · band · tube · clip · field · sharp · content

  1. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. tube — the underground
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. clip — for paper
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. band — a ring
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. field — farmland
  9. field — a subject
  10. content — happy
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. rule — government
  13. clip — a video
  14. rock — a stone
  15. sharp — clever
  16. clip — to cut
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. rule — a law
  19. rock — music
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. field — for sport
  22. band — a music group
  23. tube — a container
  24. content — the amount

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