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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 · tear · kid · roll · wound · rest · stand · cap

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. I can't ________________ this cold.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. tube — the underground
  3. tube — a container
  4. wound — an injury
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. tear — from crying
  7. kid — child
  8. tear — from crying
  9. wound — an injury
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. rest — what's left
  12. roll — a list
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. rest — what's left
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. cap — a hat
  17. rest — a break
  18. roll — a cake
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. tear — to rip
  21. cap — of ice
  22. stand — to bear
  23. cap — a lid
  24. kid — to tease

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