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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: tube · stand · nail · band · rock · spring · clip · cold

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. tube — the underground
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. cold — not warm
  7. spring — the season
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. band — a ring
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. spring — of water
  12. rock — a stone
  13. rock — music
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. clip — a video
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. cold — an illness
  19. stand — to bear
  20. tube — a container
  21. spring — a coil
  22. clip — to cut
  23. band — a music group
  24. nail — on a finger

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