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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. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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 law
  3. cold — an illness
  4. court — for sport
  5. season — in sport
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. season — of the year
  10. track — a path
  11. court — of a king
  12. lie — to recline
  13. track — a song
  14. chip — for betting
  15. track — to keep track
  16. chip — to eat
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cold — not warm
  19. tube — the underground
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. tube — a container
  22. perch — the fish
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. perch — for a bird

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