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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: present · tube · nail · cold · bear · band · game · land

  1. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  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. bear — to put up with
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. tube — the underground
  6. bear — the animal
  7. tube — a container
  8. bear — the animal
  9. cold — an illness
  10. land — a country
  11. present — a gift
  12. cold — not warm
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. game — wild animals
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. land — to come down
  17. game — a match
  18. present — the time now
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. land — ground
  22. present — there
  23. band — a music group
  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