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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 116 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: court · mug · drill · lie · race · tear · tube · squash

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. tube — a container
  3. lie — to recline
  4. drill — a practice
  5. tear — to rip
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. mug — a face
  8. court — of a king
  9. squash — the sport
  10. tear — from crying
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. race — humankind
  13. court — for sport
  14. race — a contest
  15. tear — from crying
  16. drill — army training
  17. mug — a cup
  18. drill — the tool
  19. squash — to crush
  20. mug — to rob
  21. tube — the underground
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. race — the arms race
  24. court — of law

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