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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. rule — a law
  3. bound — certain
  4. ground — the earth
  5. bound — tied together
  6. row — to paddle
  7. bound — obliged
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. court — for sport
  12. spring — a coil
  13. spring — of water
  14. spring — the season
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. rule — government
  17. court — of law
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. row — a line
  21. ground — a position
  22. ground — crushed
  23. stem — to come from
  24. row — a quarrel

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