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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 want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. spring — of water
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. cap — a hat
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. race — humankind
  7. cell — in biology
  8. field — farmland
  9. field — for sport
  10. cell — a phone
  11. field — a subject
  12. race — the arms race
  13. tube — the underground
  14. cap — of ice
  15. race — a contest
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. cap — a lid
  18. spring — a coil
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. content — happy
  21. spring — the season
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. content — the amount

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