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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: ground · bound · tube · arm · band · squash · date · row

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. bound — certain
  4. bound — obliged
  5. band — a music group
  6. date — the fruit
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. band — a ring
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. row — a line
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. bound — tied together
  13. tube — the underground
  14. ground — a position
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. ground — the earth
  18. squash — the sport
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. squash — to crush
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. row — to paddle
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. tube — a container

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