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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: tube · race · bound · clip · game · root · court · fan

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. game — wild animals
  3. root — of a word
  4. root — the cause
  5. court — for sport
  6. court — of a king
  7. clip — to cut
  8. tube — the underground
  9. race — a contest
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. bound — tied together
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. race — the arms race
  14. court — of law
  15. bound — certain
  16. root — of a plant
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. race — humankind
  19. tube — a container
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. clip — a video
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. bound — obliged
  24. clip — for paper

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