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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. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. The tickets are free of ________________.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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. tube — in a tire
  4. club — for dancing
  5. clip — to cut
  6. kid — child
  7. club — a group
  8. charge — a price
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. bark — to shout
  11. game — a match
  12. race — humankind
  13. clip — a video
  14. club — for golf
  15. game — wild animals
  16. race — the arms race
  17. charge — electricity
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. kid — to tease
  21. clip — for paper
  22. charge — in control
  23. race — a contest
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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