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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. tube — the underground
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. cold — an illness
  7. court — of law
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. field — a subject
  11. squash — the sport
  12. court — of a king
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. rock — music
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. field — for sport
  17. squash — to crush
  18. ruler — a monarch
  19. rock — a stone
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. field — farmland
  22. tube — a container
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. ruler — for measuring

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