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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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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: firm · hand · spring · kick · cell · tube · rest · court

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. rest — what's left
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. firm — steady
  5. court — for sport
  6. cell — a phone
  7. tube — a container
  8. spring — of water
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. hand — in cards
  11. tube — the underground
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. firm — decided
  14. rest — a break
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. firm — a company
  17. spring — a coil
  18. hand — help
  19. spring — the season
  20. rest — what's left
  21. cell — in biology
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. court — of a king
  24. kick — in football

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