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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 who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. wound — an injury
  4. wound — an injury
  5. race — humankind
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. race — a contest
  9. tube — a container
  10. bark — to shout
  11. fall — to drop
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. season — of the year
  14. wake — a trail
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. stock — goods
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. race — the arms race
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. stock — shares
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. tube — the underground
  23. fall — the season
  24. season — in sport

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