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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. cue — for pool
  5. chest — of your body
  6. cue — a hint
  7. cue — a signal
  8. chest — of your body
  9. hand — in cards
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. court — for sport
  12. chest — a box
  13. tube — the underground
  14. tube — a container
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. court — of law
  17. pit — in a race
  18. bear — the animal
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. bear — the animal
  21. hand — help
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. court — of a king
  24. pit — a hole

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