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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: hand · club · court · root · craft · bat · pop · tube

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. pop — music
  3. club — for golf
  4. club — for dancing
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. hand — in cards
  8. tube — the underground
  9. club — a group
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. root — of a plant
  13. hand — help
  14. court — of law
  15. craft — a skill
  16. root — the cause
  17. court — of a king
  18. tube — a container
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. craft — boats
  21. bat — the animal
  22. root — of a word
  23. court — for sport
  24. pop — soda

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