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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: court · firm · tube · wound · land · rest · rash · squash

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. tube — a container
  3. court — of a king
  4. court — for sport
  5. rest — what's left
  6. rash — a series
  7. firm — a company
  8. firm — decided
  9. firm — steady
  10. rash — hasty
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. squash — the sport
  13. land — a country
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. wound — an injury
  16. rest — a break
  17. tube — the underground
  18. court — of law
  19. land — to come down
  20. squash — to crush
  21. land — ground
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. rest — what's left
  24. wound — an injury

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