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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've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. wind — moving air
  3. charge — electricity
  4. charge — a price
  5. race — the arms race
  6. tube — the underground
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. land — a country
  12. row — a line
  13. land — ground
  14. capital — a city
  15. race — a contest
  16. race — humankind
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. land — to come down
  19. charge — in control
  20. capital — money
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. tube — a container
  23. row — to paddle
  24. wind — moving air

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