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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: cold · race · fork · net · tube · trunk · rest · dip

  1. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. rest — what's left
  3. net — after costs
  4. race — the arms race
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. cold — an illness
  9. tube — the underground
  10. tube — a container
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. rest — what's left
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. dip — to sink
  16. net — for catching
  17. rest — a break
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. cold — not warm
  21. race — a contest
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. race — humankind
  24. fork — in a road

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