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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. spell — letters
  3. court — of law
  4. court — of a king
  5. object — an aim
  6. bore — to drill
  7. scale — size or range
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. court — for sport
  11. tube — a container
  12. object — a thing
  13. object — to protest
  14. fall — to drop
  15. fall — to drop
  16. bore — to tire
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. tear — from crying
  19. fall — the season
  20. scale — in music
  21. tear — to rip
  22. spell — magic
  23. tear — from crying
  24. spell — a short time

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