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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. cue — for pool
  3. tube — the underground
  4. court — of law
  5. tube — a container
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. cue — a hint
  8. club — for dancing
  9. cue — a signal
  10. club — a group
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. last — to go on
  13. clip — to cut
  14. last — finally
  15. last — final
  16. clip — a video
  17. court — for sport
  18. clip — for paper
  19. bat — the animal
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. club — for golf
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. trunk — of a car

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