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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. club — a group
  3. tear — from crying
  4. spring — of water
  5. game — wild animals
  6. spring — the season
  7. drill — army training
  8. drill — a practice
  9. net — after costs
  10. net — for catching
  11. plane — a tool
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. court — for sport
  14. drill — the tool
  15. club — for dancing
  16. net — in sport
  17. tear — from crying
  18. game — a match
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. court — of a king
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. spring — a coil
  23. court — of law
  24. club — for golf

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