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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: bore · tube · cell · mine · band · drill · scale · track

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. cell — a phone
  3. track — a song
  4. bore — to tire
  5. track — to keep track
  6. track — a path
  7. bore — to drill
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. scale — size or range
  10. scale — in music
  11. mine — for digging
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. cell — in biology
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. drill — the tool
  16. tube — the underground
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. drill — a practice
  19. band — a music group
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. drill — army training
  23. tube — a container
  24. mine — an explosive

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