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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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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: object · tube · cell · march · content · field · snap · band

  1. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. tube — a container
  4. field — for sport
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. content — happy
  7. snap — to click
  8. march — the month
  9. object — to protest
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. band — a ring
  12. tube — the underground
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. band — a music group
  15. content — the amount
  16. march — music
  17. march — the month
  18. cell — in biology
  19. field — a subject
  20. object — a thing
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. field — farmland
  23. cell — a phone
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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