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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. When will it ________________ you to start?
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. rush — hurry
  3. court — of a king
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. suit — clothes
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. net — in sport
  9. band — a ring
  10. suit — in cards
  11. tube — the underground
  12. court — of law
  13. tube — a container
  14. suit — to fit
  15. net — for catching
  16. band — a music group
  17. net — after costs
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. pound — a weight
  20. stem — to come from
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. stem — a stem cell

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