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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. spring — a coil
  6. spring — the season
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. wound — an injury
  10. tear — to rip
  11. wound — an injury
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. spring — of water
  14. tear — from crying
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. tear — from crying
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. court — of law
  20. court — for sport
  21. wake — a trail
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. patient — a sick person

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