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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: band · current · cap · straw · tear · tube · wave · pop

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. tear — to rip
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. tear — from crying
  6. tear — from crying
  7. pop — soda
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. cap — of ice
  13. current — happening now
  14. current — of water
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. tube — the underground
  17. cap — a lid
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. current — electric
  20. band — a music group
  21. band — a ring
  22. tube — a container
  23. pop — music
  24. pop — to visit

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