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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 took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. court — for sport
  3. tube — a container
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. court — of law
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. field — farmland
  8. field — for sport
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. court — of a king
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. wind — moving air
  13. press — to push
  14. shower — to wash
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. field — a subject
  17. press — newspapers
  18. press — a publisher
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. tube — the underground
  23. wind — moving air
  24. lash — an eyelash

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