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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
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: tube · root · plane · file · court · mug · degree · race

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. mug — a face
  3. court — of a king
  4. mug — to rob
  5. race — a contest
  6. degree — from a university
  7. race — humankind
  8. tube — a container
  9. court — for sport
  10. degree — temperature
  11. court — of law
  12. root — the cause
  13. race — the arms race
  14. plane — a tool
  15. file — a tool
  16. root — of a plant
  17. tube — the underground
  18. degree — an amount
  19. mug — a cup
  20. root — of a word
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. file — a line of people
  24. file — a document

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