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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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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 party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. band — a music group
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. content — happy
  7. game — wild animals
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. rash — hasty
  11. court — of a king
  12. band — a ring
  13. tube — a container
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. tube — the underground
  16. court — for sport
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. content — the amount
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. pit — in a race
  21. court — of law
  22. game — a match
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. pit — a hole

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