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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: pitch · tube · race · kid · rule · bear · chest · file

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  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. race — humankind
  2. chest — of your body
  3. kid — child
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. chest — a box
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. rule — a law
  8. race — a contest
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. chest — of your body
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. file — a line of people
  13. pitch — completely
  14. bear — the animal
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. kid — to tease
  17. race — the arms race
  18. bear — the animal
  19. tube — a container
  20. rule — government
  21. file — a tool
  22. tube — the underground
  23. rule — to rule out
  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