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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 116 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. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. rash — hasty
  3. degree — from a university
  4. degree — temperature
  5. tube — a container
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. key — in music
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. key — for a lock
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. fall — to drop
  12. scale — in music
  13. fall — to drop
  14. race — humankind
  15. kid — child
  16. tube — the underground
  17. race — a contest
  18. degree — an amount
  19. fall — the season
  20. race — the arms race
  21. rash — a series
  22. key — the most important part
  23. kid — to tease
  24. scale — size or range

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