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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: kid · band · object · temple · cap · wound · content · tube

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. wound — an injury
  3. kid — to tease
  4. content — happy
  5. object — an aim
  6. object — to protest
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. cap — a lid
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. content — the amount
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. object — a thing
  13. tube — the underground
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. cap — of ice
  16. band — a ring
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. tube — a container
  19. cap — a hat
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. kid — child
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. band — a music group

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