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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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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: tube · foot · wound · band · stick · temple · straw · mate

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. When was this ________________ built?
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. foot — a measure
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. tube — a container
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. mate — a partner
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. band — a ring
  15. wound — an injury
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. mate — to breed
  18. mate — a friend
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. wound — an injury
  22. band — a music group
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. tube — the underground

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