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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Where did you ________________ them?
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. court — of law
  3. season — of the year
  4. spring — of water
  5. season — in sport
  6. mug — a face
  7. prune — to trim
  8. spring — a coil
  9. shower — rain
  10. shower — to wash
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. kid — to tease
  15. mug — to rob
  16. spring — the season
  17. mug — a cup
  18. fork — in a road
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. prune — to trim
  21. court — of a king
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. kid — child
  24. court — for sport

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