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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 124 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. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. root — the cause
  2. court — of a king
  3. content — the amount
  4. tube — the underground
  5. tube — a container
  6. band — a music group
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. band — a ring
  9. race — the arms race
  10. race — a contest
  11. court — for sport
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. content — happy
  14. root — of a plant
  15. cell — a phone
  16. root — of a word
  17. bulb — for light
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. court — of law
  20. bulb — for light
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. race — humankind
  23. cell — in biology
  24. cell — in a prison

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