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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: spring · bowl · kid · patient · court · tube · cold · pop

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. court — for sport
  3. kid — child
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. spring — of water
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — an illness
  8. court — of law
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. court — of a king
  11. pop — soda
  12. spring — a coil
  13. pop — to visit
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. pop — music
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. spring — the season
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. tube — the underground
  23. kid — to tease
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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