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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: plane · fork · wound · race · root · chest · cold · tube

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. cold — not warm
  3. wound — an injury
  4. chest — of your body
  5. race — the arms race
  6. plane — a tool
  7. root — of a plant
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. tube — a container
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. wound — an injury
  12. root — the cause
  13. chest — of your body
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. tube — the underground
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. race — humankind
  18. race — a contest
  19. cold — an illness
  20. fork — in a road
  21. root — of a word
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. fork — to eat with

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