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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. bass — low music
  3. court — of a king
  4. tube — a container
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. land — a country
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. hand — help
  10. field — a subject
  11. land — ground
  12. court — of law
  13. court — for sport
  14. fine — all right
  15. bass — the fish
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. fine — high quality
  18. tube — the underground
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. field — farmland
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. land — to come down
  23. hand — in cards
  24. field — for sport

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