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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: land · band · scale · tube · chest · dip · prune · present

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. land — ground
  3. prune — to trim
  4. prune — to trim
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. band — a music group
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. tube — the underground
  9. present — a gift
  10. land — to come down
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. land — a country
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. scale — size or range
  15. chest — of your body
  16. present — there
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. tube — a container
  19. scale — in music
  20. chest — of your body
  21. dip — to sink
  22. chest — a box
  23. present — the time now
  24. band — a ring

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