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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: wax · last · tube · hand · pitcher · current · ground · band

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. band — a music group
  4. current — of water
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. wax — to grow
  7. last — to go on
  8. tube — the underground
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. last — final
  12. tube — a container
  13. ground — a position
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. hand — in cards
  16. band — a ring
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. ground — the earth
  19. hand — help
  20. current — happening now
  21. current — electric
  22. ground — crushed
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. last — finally

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