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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 owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. race — humankind
  5. game — wild animals
  6. perch — the fish
  7. mate — to breed
  8. tube — the underground
  9. mate — a partner
  10. branch — a division
  11. game — a match
  12. race — a contest
  13. pop — music
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. chest — a box
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. race — the arms race
  18. chest — of your body
  19. tube — a container
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. mate — a friend
  22. pop — soda
  23. pop — to visit
  24. chest — of your body

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