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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: pitcher · pop · game · field · present · band · bore · tube

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. field — farmland
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. field — for sport
  7. present — a gift
  8. pop — to visit
  9. bore — to drill
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. present — there
  12. tube — the underground
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. bore — to tire
  15. pop — music
  16. band — a ring
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. game — wild animals
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. band — a music group
  21. present — the time now
  22. pop — soda
  23. tube — a container
  24. field — a subject

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