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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 muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. chip — to eat
  3. chip — for betting
  4. spring — a coil
  5. spring — of water
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. kick — in football
  8. track — to keep track
  9. stem — to come from
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. court — of law
  14. court — of a king
  15. tube — the underground
  16. swing — in golf
  17. track — a song
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. spring — the season
  20. swing — to play on
  21. tube — a container
  22. swing — music
  23. court — for sport
  24. kick — with a leg

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