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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 120 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. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  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. rest — what's left
  2. court — for sport
  3. pop — music
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. cap — of ice
  6. tube — the underground
  7. rest — what's left
  8. cap — a lid
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. rest — a break
  11. band — a music group
  12. band — a ring
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. cap — a hat
  15. court — of a king
  16. game — a match
  17. court — of law
  18. pop — soda
  19. snap — to click
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. tube — a container
  22. game — wild animals
  23. pop — to visit
  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