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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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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. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. race — the arms race
  3. key — for a lock
  4. deal — to handle
  5. saw — the tool
  6. key — the most important part
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. tube — the underground
  9. key — in music
  10. stock — shares
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. land — ground
  13. saw — the tool
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. wind — moving air
  16. race — a contest
  17. tube — a container
  18. stock — goods
  19. race — humankind
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. land — a country
  23. wind — moving air
  24. land — to come down

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