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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 old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. staff — a stick
  3. pop — to visit
  4. tube — the underground
  5. pop — music
  6. root — the cause
  7. root — of a plant
  8. root — of a word
  9. tube — a container
  10. cold — an illness
  11. staff — employees
  12. race — humankind
  13. cold — not warm
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. race — the arms race
  16. saw — the tool
  17. pop — soda
  18. staff — employees
  19. degree — temperature
  20. saw — the tool
  21. degree — from a university
  22. race — a contest
  23. degree — an amount
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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