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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: bound · arm · tube · race · capital · swing · clip · ruler

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. swing — music
  3. clip — to cut
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. race — the arms race
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. swing — in golf
  10. bound — obliged
  11. capital — money
  12. race — humankind
  13. tube — the underground
  14. race — a contest
  15. clip — a video
  16. capital — a city
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. bound — tied together
  20. swing — to play on
  21. bound — certain
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. clip — for paper
  24. ruler — for measuring

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