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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: chest · rest · fan · clip · mate · tube · can · race

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. mate — a partner
  3. rest — what's left
  4. tube — a container
  5. chest — of your body
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. chest — a box
  8. clip — to cut
  9. rest — what's left
  10. rest — a break
  11. can — a tin
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. mate — a friend
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. can — a tin
  17. clip — a video
  18. can — to be able to
  19. race — humankind
  20. mate — to breed
  21. chest — of your body
  22. race — a contest
  23. tube — the underground
  24. race — the arms race

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