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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: race · clip · sharp · track · cold · hand · vault · tube

  1. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. clip — a video
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. hand — help
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. track — a song
  8. clip — for paper
  9. tube — the underground
  10. vault — a safe
  11. track — to keep track
  12. race — humankind
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. cold — an illness
  15. tube — a container
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. race — the arms race
  19. sharp — clever
  20. clip — to cut
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. race — a contest
  23. hand — in cards
  24. cold — not warm

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