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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. current — of water
  3. spring — of water
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. row — a line
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. current — happening now
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. spring — a coil
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. spring — the season
  13. court — for sport
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. current — electric
  16. wake — a trail
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. cold — not warm
  19. cold — an illness
  20. court — of a king
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. plane — a tool
  23. row — to paddle
  24. leaves — to go away

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