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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 · land · ground · row · foot · court · tear · fan

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. row — a line
  3. court — for sport
  4. court — of law
  5. court — of a king
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. ground — a position
  8. ground — crushed
  9. tear — to rip
  10. land — to come down
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. land — a country
  13. tube — the underground
  14. land — ground
  15. row — to paddle
  16. tear — from crying
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. foot — a measure
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. ground — the earth
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. tear — from crying
  24. tube — a container

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