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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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. rush — hurry
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. spring — a coil
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. cell — in biology
  9. mine — for digging
  10. ball — a dance
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. court — for sport
  15. cell — a phone
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. court — of law
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. snap — to click
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. spring — of water
  22. court — of a king
  23. ball — a great time
  24. arm — part of the body

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