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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: mine · club · ground · race · saw · tube · fan · cold

  1. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. mine — for digging
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. race — humankind
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. tube — the underground
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. club — for dancing
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. ground — a position
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. club — for golf
  14. ground — the earth
  15. cold — an illness
  16. race — a contest
  17. ground — crushed
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. saw — the tool
  20. cold — not warm
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. tube — a container
  23. race — the arms race
  24. club — a group

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