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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: can · clip · foot · court · coach · shower · tube · bear

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. bear — the animal
  3. can — to be able to
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. shower — to wash
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. clip — a video
  8. clip — to cut
  9. foot — a measure
  10. clip — for paper
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. bear — the animal
  14. tube — a container
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. tube — the underground
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. court — of law
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. can — a tin
  22. shower — rain
  23. court — of a king
  24. can — a tin

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