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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 120 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: court · mine · rest · kid · tube · wound · bear · chair

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. tube — the underground
  3. kid — child
  4. kid — to tease
  5. chair — a leader
  6. bear — the animal
  7. rest — what's left
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. court — of law
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. tube — a container
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. wound — an injury
  16. rest — what's left
  17. mine — for digging
  18. court — of a king
  19. bear — the animal
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. wound — an injury
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. rest — a break
  24. court — for sport

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