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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: tube · racket · content · court · clip · last · safe · stem

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  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. court — of a king
  2. court — for sport
  3. tube — the underground
  4. safe — a strongbox
  5. tube — a container
  6. stem — to come from
  7. clip — to cut
  8. clip — for paper
  9. clip — a video
  10. last — finally
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. last — final
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. last — to go on
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. content — happy
  19. content — the amount
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. court — of law
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. racket — for tennis
  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