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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 want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. tube — a container
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. shower — to wash
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. root — the cause
  8. band — a ring
  9. root — of a word
  10. court — of law
  11. tube — the underground
  12. shower — rain
  13. root — of a plant
  14. band — a music group
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. court — of a king
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. rash — hasty
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. rash — a series
  22. wax — to grow
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. band — a rubber band

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