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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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. march — the month
  3. date — the fruit
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. march — the month
  6. pit — in a race
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. tube — the underground
  10. chip — for betting
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. pit — a hole
  13. race — humankind
  14. cell — a phone
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. race — a contest
  20. chip — to eat
  21. race — the arms race
  22. cell — in biology
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. march — music

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