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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. spring — of water
  3. court — of a king
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. spring — the season
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. pass — a permit
  8. court — for sport
  9. last — to go on
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. rest — what's left
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. rest — a break
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. row — to paddle
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. court — of law
  18. rest — what's left
  19. mine — for digging
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. pass — to succeed
  22. row — a line
  23. last — finally
  24. last — final

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