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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. court — of law
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. tube — the underground
  6. cell — a phone
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. cell — in biology
  10. game — a match
  11. court — of a king
  12. date — the fruit
  13. swing — to play on
  14. court — for sport
  15. swing — music
  16. swing — in golf
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. game — wild animals
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. tube — a container
  23. hand — in cards
  24. hand — help

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