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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 116 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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. mark — a trace
  3. mark — a grade
  4. tube — the underground
  5. cold — an illness
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. bulb — for light
  8. tube — a container
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. cold — not warm
  11. net — for catching
  12. net — in sport
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. court — of a king
  15. race — humankind
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. race — the arms race
  18. race — a contest
  19. root — of a plant
  20. root — the cause
  21. court — of law
  22. root — of a word
  23. bulb — for light
  24. net — after costs

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