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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. pit — in a race
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. wax — to grow
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. court — of law
  8. bat — the animal
  9. stock — shares
  10. tube — a container
  11. band — a music group
  12. pit — a hole
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. court — for sport
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. stock — goods
  17. band — a ring
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. row — to paddle
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. tube — the underground
  23. row — a line
  24. stock — a soup base

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