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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 120 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: rush · tube · ground · race · cold · fork · net · mouse

  1. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. ground — crushed
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. tube — a container
  6. ground — a position
  7. fork — in a road
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. net — after costs
  10. tube — the underground
  11. cold — not warm
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. net — for catching
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. race — a contest
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. ground — the earth
  18. race — humankind
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. race — the arms race
  21. rush — hurry
  22. cold — an illness
  23. net — in sport
  24. rush — a thrill

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