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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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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: club · hand · coach · branch · tube · plane · tear · game

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. hand — help
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. tube — the underground
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. hand — in cards
  8. club — a group
  9. tear — from crying
  10. branch — a division
  11. tear — to rip
  12. club — for golf
  13. game — wild animals
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. tube — a container
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. club — for dancing
  20. tear — from crying
  21. plane — a tool
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. game — a match

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