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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: wound · bank · root · court · tube · rash · jam · bat

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  12. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. root — of a plant
  3. wound — an injury
  4. root — of a word
  5. rash — hasty
  6. jam — in traffic
  7. wound — an injury
  8. jam — a tight spot
  9. bat — the animal
  10. tube — the underground
  11. bank — for money
  12. bank — of a river
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. court — of a king
  15. jam — to spread on bread
  16. court — of law
  17. tube — a container
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. rash — a series
  20. bank — for money
  21. root — the cause
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  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