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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 120 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: wind · bass · mouse · spring · lean · tube · band · cell

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. tube — a container
  3. cell — a phone
  4. band — a ring
  5. bass — low music
  6. lean — to bend
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. spring — a coil
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. spring — the season
  13. lean — thin
  14. wind — moving air
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. band — a music group
  20. bass — the fish
  21. wind — moving air
  22. cell — in biology
  23. spring — of water
  24. wind — to turn a key

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