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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · scale · band · shower · ground · straw · fork · trunk

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on 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. ground — a position
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. shower — to wash
  6. ground — crushed
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. scale — in music
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. band — a music group
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. ground — the earth
  16. fork — in a road
  17. shower — rain
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. band — a ring
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. tube — a container
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. scale — size or range

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