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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 116 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: mouse · race · tube · hide · deal · spring · band · cold

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. race — humankind
  5. cold — an illness
  6. spring — of water
  7. tube — a container
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. race — a contest
  12. spring — a coil
  13. cold — not warm
  14. band — a ring
  15. band — a music group
  16. deal — to handle
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. tube — the underground
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. race — the arms race

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