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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'll be taking the ________________.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. race — humankind
  4. race — a contest
  5. prune — to trim
  6. kick — in football
  7. tube — a container
  8. cold — an illness
  9. rash — hasty
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. rash — a series
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. race — the arms race
  15. prune — to trim
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. saw — the tool
  19. chip — to eat
  20. chip — for betting
  21. saw — the tool
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. cold — not warm
  24. tube — in a tire

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