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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 need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. can — a tin
  3. court — of law
  4. court — for sport
  5. staff — employees
  6. tube — a container
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. file — a tool
  9. file — a line of people
  10. field — for sport
  11. can — a tin
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. field — a subject
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. file — a document
  18. staff — employees
  19. field — farmland
  20. staff — a stick
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. tube — the underground
  23. can — to be able to
  24. court — of a king

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