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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 124 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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. track — to keep track
  4. spring — of water
  5. rash — a series
  6. spring — a coil
  7. kick — in football
  8. track — a song
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. bass — low music
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. rash — hasty
  15. race — humankind
  16. spring — the season
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. track — a path
  19. sharp — clever
  20. race — a contest
  21. tube — a container
  22. race — the arms race
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. tube — the underground

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