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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: deal · race · bore · kid · date · stem · tube · wind

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. bore — to drill
  4. tube — the underground
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. kid — child
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. tube — a container
  9. bore — to tire
  10. stem — to come from
  11. date — the fruit
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. kid — to tease
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. deal — to handle
  16. race — humankind
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. wind — moving air
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. race — a contest
  23. race — the arms race
  24. stem — a stem cell

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