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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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. game — wild animals
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. mine — for digging
  5. race — humankind
  6. deal — to handle
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. tube — a container
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. race — the arms race
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. shower — to wash
  13. game — a match
  14. tube — the underground
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. shower — rain
  17. race — a contest
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. scale — in music
  23. scale — size or range
  24. deal — an agreement

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