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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. kid — child
  3. wound — an injury
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. lie — to recline
  6. spring — the season
  7. shower — rain
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. court — for sport
  10. spring — of water
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. shower — to wash
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. rash — hasty
  15. kid — to tease
  16. rash — a series
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. wound — an injury
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. court — of law
  24. spring — a coil

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