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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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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: deal · race · land · tube · clip · mate · row · pop

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. race — a contest
  3. clip — for paper
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. deal — to handle
  6. race — humankind
  7. row — to paddle
  8. land — a country
  9. tube — the underground
  10. clip — a video
  11. mate — a partner
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. tube — a container
  14. land — ground
  15. pop — to visit
  16. mate — to breed
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. pop — music
  19. race — the arms race
  20. mate — a friend
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. pop — soda
  23. row — a line
  24. land — to come down

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