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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. My mare is ________________ in color.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. spring — the season
  3. spring — of water
  4. swing — music
  5. court — of a king
  6. last — to go on
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. clip — to cut
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. court — of law
  12. court — for sport
  13. spell — a short time
  14. clip — for paper
  15. last — finally
  16. bay — a horse colour
  17. swing — in golf
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. spring — a coil
  20. last — final
  21. spell — magic
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. spell — letters
  24. clip — a video

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