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

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. spring — the season
  3. court — of a king
  4. bore — to tire
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. rash — hasty
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. spring — of water
  9. march — music
  10. rash — a series
  11. court — of law
  12. march — the month
  13. march — the month
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. tear — from crying
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. tear — to rip
  19. court — for sport
  20. spring — a coil
  21. bore — to drill
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. sharp — clever
  24. tear — from crying

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