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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 need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. wound — an injury
  3. tube — a container
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. face — part of the head
  6. face — to confront
  7. craft — a skill
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. bass — low music
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. wound — an injury
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. tube — the underground
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. race — humankind
  17. race — a contest
  18. face — to point toward
  19. craft — boats
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. bass — the fish
  22. race — the arms race
  23. stem — to come from
  24. bat — the animal

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