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

Word bank: pound · capital · tube · race · pass · mine · track · chest

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. capital — a city
  3. chest — a box
  4. pound — a weight
  5. pass — a permit
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. capital — money
  11. track — a song
  12. race — humankind
  13. track — a path
  14. chest — of your body
  15. race — a contest
  16. mine — for digging
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. race — the arms race
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. track — to keep track
  21. chest — of your body
  22. tube — the underground
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. mine — belonging to me

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