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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. can — a tin
  3. hand — in cards
  4. ground — crushed
  5. court — for sport
  6. court — of law
  7. can — a tin
  8. sharp — clever
  9. squash — the sport
  10. spring — a coil
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. court — of a king
  13. ground — a position
  14. tube — a container
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. spring — of water
  17. tube — the underground
  18. hand — help
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. ground — the earth
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. can — to be able to
  23. squash — to crush
  24. sharp — exactly

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