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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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. rush — hurry
  4. spring — the season
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. spell — a short time
  7. court — of law
  8. spring — of water
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. spell — magic
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. game — a match
  13. spell — letters
  14. ball — a great time
  15. court — for sport
  16. ball — a dance
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wound — an injury
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. court — of a king
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. spring — a coil
  24. game — a kind of play

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