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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: mine · bass · race · tube · chest · present · plane · snap

  1. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. present — there
  3. chest — of your body
  4. tube — the underground
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. bass — the fish
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. bass — low music
  9. chest — a box
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. tube — a container
  12. race — humankind
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. chest — of your body
  15. race — a contest
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. snap — to click
  18. plane — a tool
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. race — the arms race
  21. present — a gift
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. mine — for digging

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