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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. track — a path
  4. track — a song
  5. root — of a plant
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. band — a ring
  8. root — of a word
  9. capital — money
  10. court — of law
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. track — to keep track
  13. pass — a permit
  14. tube — the underground
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. band — a music group
  18. tube — a container
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. stand — to bear
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. capital — a city
  23. court — of a king
  24. root — the cause

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