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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. cold — an illness
  4. spring — of water
  5. safe — out of danger
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. roll — a cake
  9. roll — a list
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. stem — to come from
  12. spring — the season
  13. cold — not warm
  14. can — a tin
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. court — for sport
  17. can — to be able to
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. court — of a king
  20. spring — a coil
  21. safe — a strongbox
  22. shower — rain
  23. can — a tin
  24. shower — to wash

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