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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. rock — music
  3. hand — in cards
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. rock — a stone
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. tube — the underground
  8. court — of a king
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. spring — the season
  11. hand — help
  12. spring — of water
  13. last — finally
  14. firm — steady
  15. last — to go on
  16. last — final
  17. court — of law
  18. tube — a container
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. spring — a coil
  21. firm — decided
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. firm — a company
  24. tube — in a tire

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