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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: rule · tube · pit · hand · leaves · drill · band · ground

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. ground — a position
  3. ground — crushed
  4. tube — a container
  5. pit — a hole
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. hand — in cards
  8. tube — the underground
  9. ground — the earth
  10. rule — a law
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. band — a music group
  13. rule — government
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. drill — a practice
  16. band — a ring
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. hand — help
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. pit — in a race
  22. drill — army training
  23. drill — the tool
  24. leaves — of a tree

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