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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: field · shower · object · wind · tube · kick · band · press

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. object — an aim
  3. shower — rain
  4. field — farmland
  5. press — to push
  6. press — a publisher
  7. object — a thing
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. wind — moving air
  11. field — a subject
  12. wind — moving air
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. shower — to wash
  17. press — newspapers
  18. kick — in football
  19. object — to protest
  20. field — for sport
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. band — a music group
  23. band — a ring
  24. tube — the underground

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