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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. tear — from crying
  3. last — to go on
  4. last — finally
  5. land — a country
  6. court — of a king
  7. tube — the underground
  8. land — ground
  9. court — for sport
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. wound — an injury
  12. wound — an injury
  13. tube — a container
  14. tear — from crying
  15. land — to come down
  16. last — final
  17. tear — to rip
  18. tube — in a tire

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