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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. race — humankind
  4. cold — an illness
  5. race — a contest
  6. root — of a word
  7. tube — a container
  8. tube — the underground
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. root — of a plant
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. cold — not warm
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. mouse — for a computer
  17. race — the arms race
  18. hand — help
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. chair — a leader
  21. bat — the animal
  22. hand — in cards
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. root — the cause

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