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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. chest — a box
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. race — the arms race
  6. tube — a container
  7. squash — to crush
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. chest — of your body
  10. chest — of your body
  11. squash — the sport
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. race — a contest
  14. fork — in a road
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. row — a line
  17. row — to paddle
  18. race — humankind

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