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

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. court — of a king
  3. pit — in a race
  4. ball — a great time
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. ball — a dance
  8. cold — not warm
  9. tube — the underground
  10. tube — a container
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. wind — moving air
  13. court — for sport
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. ruler — a monarch
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. cold — an illness
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. court — of law
  21. wind — moving air
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. pit — a hole
  24. wind — to turn a key

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