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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · mug · chip · bark · rash · file · bat · tube

  1. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a cup
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. race — humankind
  4. tube — the underground
  5. mug — to rob
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. chip — to eat
  9. file — a line of people
  10. chip — for betting
  11. file — a tool
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. bark — to shout
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. tube — a container
  16. bat — the animal
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. file — a document
  19. rash — hasty
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. race — the arms race
  22. rash — a series
  23. race — a contest
  24. mug — a face

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