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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. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. court — for sport
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. fall — the season
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. court — of law
  7. court — of a king
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. tube — a container
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. cold — an illness
  15. stand — to bear
  16. fall — to drop
  17. tube — the underground
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. game — wild animals
  20. fall — to drop
  21. game — a match
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. cold — not warm
  24. rush — hurry

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