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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. court — of a king
  3. tube — the underground
  4. fall — the season
  5. bore — to drill
  6. fall — to drop
  7. bound — tied together
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. court — of law
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bore — to tire
  12. court — for sport
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. bound — obliged
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. ball — a dance
  18. bat — the animal
  19. fall — to drop
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. tube — a container
  23. ball — a great time
  24. bound — certain

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