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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'll be taking the ________________.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. bark — to shout
  5. present — there
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. race — humankind
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. present — a gift
  13. wax — to grow
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. rush — hurry
  16. cell — a phone
  17. race — the arms race
  18. cell — in biology
  19. tube — a container
  20. swing — to play on
  21. race — a contest
  22. swing — music
  23. swing — in golf
  24. present — the time now

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