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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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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: ball · wind · bank · kid · tube · court · squash · cell

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. squash — to crush
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. kid — child
  5. cell — a phone
  6. squash — the sport
  7. cell — in biology
  8. court — of law
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. bank — for money
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. court — of a king
  13. wind — moving air
  14. court — for sport
  15. bank — for money
  16. tube — the underground
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. tube — a container
  20. bank — of a river
  21. kid — to tease
  22. ball — a dance
  23. ball — a great time
  24. wind — to turn a key

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