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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 116 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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. spring — of water
  3. bank — for money
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. spring — a coil
  6. rash — a series
  7. court — of a king
  8. spring — the season
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. pop — music
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. court — of law
  13. court — for sport
  14. row — to paddle
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. pop — soda
  17. bank — of a river
  18. swing — to play on
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. row — a line
  21. swing — in golf
  22. swing — music
  23. bank — for money
  24. rash — hasty

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