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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. ball — a dance
  3. court — of a king
  4. tube — the underground
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. court — for sport
  7. track — to keep track
  8. bat — the animal
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. track — a path
  12. craft — a skill
  13. tear — from crying
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. track — a song
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. court — of law
  21. tear — to rip
  22. tube — a container
  23. ball — a great time
  24. craft — boats

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