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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'll be taking the ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. race — humankind
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. race — the arms race
  6. field — for sport
  7. race — a contest
  8. wax — to grow
  9. spring — the season
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. date — the fruit
  13. spring — of water
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. spring — a coil
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. field — a subject
  18. field — farmland
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. band — a music group
  22. tube — a container
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. band — a ring

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