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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 116 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: wave · tube · cold · scale · fall · bay · straw · band

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. bay — a part of the sea
  3. band — a music group
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. scale — size or range
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. fall — to drop
  8. band — a ring
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. tube — the underground
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. fall — the season
  14. scale — in music
  15. cold — not warm
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. fall — to drop
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. cold — an illness
  21. tube — a container
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. wave — of the sea

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