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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 ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. pit — a hole
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. pit — in a race
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. shower — rain
  11. mug — to rob
  12. scale — in music
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. shower — to wash
  15. court — of a king
  16. mug — a face
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. scale — size or range
  19. spring — the season
  20. court — for sport
  21. spring — of water
  22. spring — a coil
  23. mug — a cup
  24. fork — in a road

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