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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. When will it ________________ you to start?
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. court — of a king
  3. scale — size or range
  4. cold — an illness
  5. scale — in music
  6. suit — clothes
  7. spring — of water
  8. suit — in cards
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. court — for sport
  11. cold — not warm
  12. court — of law
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. season — in sport
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. spring — the season
  18. capital — a city
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. suit — to fit
  21. perch — the fish
  22. capital — money
  23. spring — a coil
  24. cold — the Cold War

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