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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. court — for sport
  3. fall — the season
  4. cue — a signal
  5. land — to come down
  6. cue — for pool
  7. chest — of your body
  8. land — a country
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. chest — of your body
  11. fall — to drop
  12. tube — the underground
  13. tube — a container
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. chest — a box
  18. land — ground
  19. cue — a hint
  20. court — of a king
  21. court — of law
  22. fall — to drop
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. wind — moving air

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