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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: band · row · racket · race · tube · pound · clip · land

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. band — a ring
  4. clip — for paper
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. clip — a video
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. land — to come down
  10. row — to paddle
  11. land — ground
  12. band — a music group
  13. row — a line
  14. land — a country
  15. race — humankind
  16. clip — to cut
  17. race — the arms race
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. race — a contest
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. tube — the underground
  23. pound — a weight
  24. tube — a container

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