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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. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. craft — boats
  3. tube — a container
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. fall — to drop
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. fall — the season
  8. race — humankind
  9. band — a music group
  10. fall — to drop
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. band — a ring
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. craft — a skill
  15. file — a document
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. file — a line of people
  18. race — the arms race
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. file — a tool
  21. race — a contest
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. tube — the underground
  24. cabinet — ministers

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