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

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. court — of law
  3. cold — not warm
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. spring — of water
  6. spring — a coil
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. rest — what's left
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. wind — moving air
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. wind — moving air
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. safe — a strongbox
  17. shower — to wash
  18. rest — a break
  19. shower — rain
  20. cold — an illness
  21. spring — the season
  22. court — for sport
  23. rest — what's left
  24. bat — the animal

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