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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: tube · fall · march · bear · chest · lie · band · clip

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  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. fall — to drop
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. fall — to drop
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. tube — a container
  6. clip — a video
  7. march — music
  8. clip — to cut
  9. chest — of your body
  10. lie — to recline
  11. clip — for paper
  12. tube — the underground
  13. fall — the season
  14. march — the month
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. band — a music group
  18. bear — the animal
  19. march — the month
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. chest — a box
  22. chest — of your body
  23. bear — the animal
  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