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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. tear — to rip
  3. court — for sport
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. band — a ring
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. dip — to sink
  10. mine — for digging
  11. tube — a container
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tear — from crying
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. branch — a division
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. band — a music group
  20. court — of a king
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. court — of law
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. racket — for tennis

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