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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 · kid · tube · bear · shower · rest · branch · track

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. branch — a division
  5. rest — what's left
  6. kid — child
  7. court — of law
  8. court — of a king
  9. shower — to wash
  10. kid — to tease
  11. tube — a container
  12. court — for sport
  13. rest — what's left
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. bear — the animal
  17. bear — the animal
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. shower — rain
  21. track — a song
  22. track — a path
  23. tube — the underground
  24. track — to keep track

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