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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. degree — temperature
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. court — for sport
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. court — of law
  9. cold — an illness
  10. degree — an amount
  11. clip — to cut
  12. safe — a strongbox
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. bank — for money
  15. cold — not warm
  16. clip — a video
  17. tube — the underground
  18. degree — from a university
  19. tube — a container
  20. bank — for money
  21. foot — a measure
  22. bank — of a river
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. clip — for paper

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