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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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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: race · roll · mate · wound · tube · trunk · game · kick

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. roll — a list
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. wound — an injury
  5. tube — a container
  6. race — a contest
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. game — wild animals
  10. kick — in football
  11. race — the arms race
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. race — humankind
  16. mate — a partner
  17. tube — the underground
  18. mate — to breed
  19. roll — a cake
  20. wound — an injury
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. mate — a friend
  23. game — a match
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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