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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 120 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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. present — the time now
  4. ground — the earth
  5. race — the arms race
  6. court — for sport
  7. race — a contest
  8. court — of law
  9. race — humankind
  10. ground — a position
  11. clip — a video
  12. bound — obliged
  13. bound — certain
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. clip — for paper
  17. court — of a king
  18. clip — to cut
  19. present — there
  20. ground — crushed
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. tube — a container
  23. present — a gift
  24. bound — tied together

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