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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  20. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. row — to paddle
  3. band — a ring
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. toast — the most admired
  6. row — a line
  7. band — a music group
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. race — humankind
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. date — the fruit
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. race — a contest
  15. tube — the underground
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. toast — bread
  20. toast — a drink to someone
  21. race — the arms race
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. tube — a container
  24. cold — an illness

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