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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.

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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: charge · cue · tube · cold · clip · shower · leaves · band

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. clip — to cut
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. band — a music group
  6. clip — a video
  7. clip — for paper
  8. cold — not warm
  9. shower — to wash
  10. shower — rain
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. cue — a hint
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. charge — in control
  17. tube — the underground
  18. charge — electricity
  19. band — a ring
  20. cue — a signal
  21. cold — an illness
  22. charge — a price
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. cue — for pool

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