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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. court — for sport
  3. march — the month
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. wound — an injury
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. prune — to trim
  9. roll — a list
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. wound — an injury
  12. march — the month
  13. prune — to trim
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. march — music
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. spring — a coil
  19. bear — the animal
  20. spring — of water
  21. spring — the season
  22. court — of law
  23. bear — the animal
  24. roll — a cake

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