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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: bear · tube · key · pitch · band · march · wind · chest

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. pitch — completely
  3. band — a ring
  4. march — the month
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. chest — a box
  7. tube — the underground
  8. bear — the animal
  9. chest — of your body
  10. key — the most important part
  11. march — music
  12. wind — moving air
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. key — in music
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. band — a music group
  17. march — the month
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. chest — of your body
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. key — for a lock
  22. bear — the animal
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. wind — moving air

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