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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: court · tube · race · craft · hand · staff · present · cell

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. court — for sport
  3. present — a gift
  4. court — of law
  5. staff — a stick
  6. hand — in cards
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. staff — employees
  9. present — the time now
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. staff — employees
  12. craft — a skill
  13. race — humankind
  14. craft — boats
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. court — of a king
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. cell — in biology
  19. tube — a container
  20. tube — the underground
  21. hand — help
  22. race — the arms race
  23. present — there
  24. cell — a phone

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