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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: shower · cell · tube · rest · court · kid · leaves · sharp

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. shower — to wash
  3. kid — to tease
  4. cell — in biology
  5. cell — a phone
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. tube — the underground
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. rest — what's left
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. tube — a container
  13. kid — child
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. shower — rain
  16. court — of a king
  17. court — of law
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. court — for sport
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. rest — what's left
  22. sharp — clever
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. leaves — lets stay

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