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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 need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. race — the arms race
  6. spell — a short time
  7. ground — crushed
  8. rest — a break
  9. pit — a hole
  10. spell — letters
  11. race — a contest
  12. spell — magic
  13. mine — for digging
  14. pit — in a race
  15. ground — the earth
  16. ground — a position
  17. race — humankind
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. tube — a container
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. tube — the underground
  22. rest — what's left
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. rest — what's left

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