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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 116 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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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 · perch · firm · tube · degree · chip · fork · tear

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. firm — steady
  4. tube — a container
  5. degree — an amount
  6. degree — from a university
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. tear — from crying
  9. tear — from crying
  10. firm — a company
  11. degree — temperature
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. fork — in a road
  14. tear — to rip
  15. band — a music group
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. firm — decided
  20. chip — for betting
  21. band — a ring
  22. chip — to eat
  23. perch — the fish
  24. tube — in a tire

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