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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.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. court — of a king
  4. court — for sport
  5. snap — to click
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. saw — the tool
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. court — of law
  11. saw — the tool
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. spring — a coil
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. spring — of water
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. spring — the season

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