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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: tube · band · chest · track · wind · lie · rock · land

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. chest — a box
  4. land — ground
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. land — a country
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. rock — music
  10. tube — a container
  11. band — a music group
  12. tube — the underground
  13. track — a path
  14. band — a ring
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wind — moving air
  17. chest — of your body
  18. track — a song
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. land — to come down
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. lie — to recline
  23. chest — of your body
  24. rock — a stone

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