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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 116 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'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. chip — to eat
  5. file — a tool
  6. tube — the underground
  7. cap — a hat
  8. cap — a lid
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. cap — of ice
  11. rush — hurry
  12. race — a contest
  13. board — to get on
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. race — the arms race
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. chip — for betting
  19. file — a document
  20. race — humankind
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. fork — in a road
  23. file — a line of people
  24. tube — a container

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