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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. bank — for money
  3. bank — for money
  4. cold — an illness
  5. bank — of a river
  6. court — of a king
  7. season — of the year
  8. can — to be able to
  9. swing — to play on
  10. clip — for paper
  11. swing — in golf
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. swing — music
  15. can — a tin
  16. can — a tin
  17. season — in sport
  18. court — of law
  19. clip — a video
  20. tube — the underground
  21. tube — a container
  22. cold — not warm
  23. clip — to cut
  24. season — to add flavour

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