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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 need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. rash — hasty
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. tube — the underground
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. pound — a weight
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. rash — a series
  11. race — a contest
  12. squash — the sport
  13. squash — to crush
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. race — the arms race
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. race — humankind
  18. tube — a container

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