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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'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. kid — child
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. race — humankind
  6. drill — a practice
  7. race — the arms race
  8. spring — a coil
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. drill — the tool
  11. tube — a container
  12. cold — not warm
  13. board — to get on
  14. tube — the underground
  15. spring — of water
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — an illness
  18. scale — size or range
  19. spring — the season
  20. scale — in music
  21. race — a contest
  22. drill — army training
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. kid — to tease

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