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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 120 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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. kick — in football
  3. court — of law
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. court — for sport
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. court — of a king
  14. spring — of water
  15. file — a line of people
  16. row — a line
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. stem — to come from
  19. plane — a tool
  20. file — a document
  21. file — a tool
  22. spring — a coil
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. row — to paddle

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