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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. ground — crushed
  3. court — for sport
  4. can — to be able to
  5. shower — to wash
  6. court — of law
  7. press — to push
  8. court — of a king
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. scale — size or range
  11. ground — the earth
  12. rash — a series
  13. tube — the underground
  14. can — a tin
  15. tube — a container
  16. ground — a position
  17. rash — hasty
  18. press — newspapers
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. shower — rain
  21. press — a publisher
  22. scale — in music
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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