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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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 — the underground
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. race — humankind
  5. spring — the season
  6. kid — to tease
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. field — for sport
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. spring — a coil
  11. tube — a container
  12. field — a subject
  13. capital — money
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. spring — of water
  16. kid — child
  17. race — the arms race
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. race — a contest
  22. capital — a city
  23. sharp — clever
  24. field — farmland

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