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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. chest — of your body
  3. tube — the underground
  4. firm — a company
  5. tear — from crying
  6. firm — decided
  7. firm — steady
  8. march — the month
  9. court — for sport
  10. court — of law
  11. march — music
  12. scale — size or range
  13. chest — of your body
  14. tear — to rip
  15. chest — a box
  16. fork — in a road
  17. scale — in music
  18. tear — from crying
  19. tube — a container
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. march — the month
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. tube — in a tire

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