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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. spring — the season
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. file — a tool
  5. court — for sport
  6. court — of a king
  7. spring — of water
  8. file — a line of people
  9. file — a document
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. content — happy
  12. mine — for digging
  13. prune — to trim
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. prune — to trim
  16. rash — a series
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. content — the amount
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. rash — hasty
  24. court — of law

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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