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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 dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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. shower — a meteor shower
  4. fine — high quality
  5. spring — of water
  6. spring — the season
  7. pop — soda
  8. shower — rain
  9. spring — a coil
  10. race — humankind
  11. fine — all right
  12. shower — to wash
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. wound — an injury
  15. race — a contest
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. pop — to visit
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. court — for sport
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. wound — an injury
  22. pop — music
  23. race — the arms race
  24. cabinet — ministers

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