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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: rule · kid · date · hand · race · content · tube · row

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. rule — a law
  3. race — humankind
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. kid — to tease
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. kid — child
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. content — happy
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. race — the arms race
  14. rule — government
  15. content — the amount
  16. tube — the underground
  17. race — a contest
  18. row — to paddle
  19. hand — in cards
  20. hand — help
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. row — a line
  24. date — the fruit

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