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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: roll · pop · plane · drill · tube · band · stick · degree

  1. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  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. stick — a piece of wood
  2. tube — the underground
  3. degree — an amount
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. roll — a cake
  6. band — a music group
  7. band — a ring
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. tube — a container
  10. degree — temperature
  11. pop — music
  12. drill — the tool
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. pop — to visit
  16. drill — a practice
  17. pop — soda
  18. plane — a tool
  19. roll — a list
  20. degree — from a university
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. drill — army training
  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