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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 · can · rock · spring · game · stem · straw · tube

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. can — a tin
  3. court — for sport
  4. court — of law
  5. rock — music
  6. can — to be able to
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. game — wild animals
  9. court — of a king
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. spring — of water
  12. rock — a stone
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. can — a tin
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. spring — a coil
  18. game — a match
  19. spring — the season
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. tube — a container
  24. stem — to come from

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