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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 116 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: swing · mine · court · stem · tube · content · race · leaves

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. court — for sport
  4. swing — to play on
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. tube — the underground
  9. race — humankind
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. content — happy
  12. race — the arms race
  13. tube — a container
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. mine — for digging
  17. content — the amount
  18. race — a contest
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. court — of law
  21. swing — in golf
  22. swing — music
  23. stem — to come from
  24. leaves — lets stay

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