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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: date · spring · band · last · race · scale · tube · patient

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. scale — size or range
  7. spring — a coil
  8. race — the arms race
  9. band — a music group
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. spring — of water
  13. last — to go on
  14. last — final
  15. spring — the season
  16. race — humankind
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. last — finally
  19. band — a ring
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. scale — in music
  22. tube — a container
  23. date — the fruit
  24. race — a contest

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