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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 116 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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. tube — a container
  3. swing — music
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. cold — an illness
  6. pit — in a race
  7. race — a contest
  8. kid — to tease
  9. mate — a partner
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. race — humankind
  12. swing — to play on
  13. swing — in golf
  14. mate — to breed
  15. cold — not warm
  16. mark — a trace
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. pit — a hole
  19. kid — child
  20. tube — the underground
  21. mate — a friend
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. mark — a grade
  24. race — the arms race

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