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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 120 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: cold · tube · fork · pit · cue · race · pitcher · present

  1. He is an ace ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. present — a gift
  4. cue — a hint
  5. fork — in a road
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. pit — in a race
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. cue — a signal
  11. cue — for pool
  12. race — the arms race
  13. present — the time now
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. race — a contest
  16. tube — a container
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. cold — not warm
  19. race — humankind
  20. cold — an illness
  21. tube — the underground
  22. present — there
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. pit — a hole

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