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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. bound — tied together
  4. race — humankind
  5. tube — a container
  6. race — a contest
  7. kid — child
  8. drill — army training
  9. drill — a practice
  10. hand — help
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. hand — in cards
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. cell — a phone
  15. tube — the underground
  16. bound — obliged
  17. race — the arms race
  18. rock — a stone
  19. cell — in biology
  20. bound — certain
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. drill — the tool
  24. rock — 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