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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: tube · arm · date · chip · present · bear · field · band

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. present — there
  4. field — a subject
  5. tube — the underground
  6. chip — to eat
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. bear — the animal
  11. band — a ring
  12. field — for sport
  13. tube — a container
  14. date — the fruit
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. bear — the animal
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. band — a music group
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. present — a gift
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. present — the time now
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. chip — for betting

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