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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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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: rest · clip · stem · court · squash · leaves · pit · tube

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. court — of a king
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. stem — to come from
  5. tube — a container
  6. squash — the sport
  7. clip — to cut
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. rest — what's left
  10. pit — in a race
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. pit — a hole
  14. court — for sport
  15. court — of law
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. tube — the underground
  19. clip — a video
  20. squash — to crush
  21. rest — what's left
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. clip — for paper
  24. stem — a stem cell

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