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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 116 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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. tube — a container
  3. file — a line of people
  4. capital — a city
  5. race — the arms race
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. race — humankind
  8. file — a tool
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. row — a line
  11. last — final
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. capital — money
  14. race — a contest
  15. last — to go on
  16. plane — a tool
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. last — finally
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. row — to paddle
  22. file — a document
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. snap — to click

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