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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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. stand — to bear
  4. craft — boats
  5. wake — a trail
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. wound — an injury
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. tube — the underground
  13. tube — a container
  14. court — of law
  15. craft — a skill
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. wound — an injury
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. court — for sport
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. kick — in football
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. kick — with a leg

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