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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. spring — of water
  4. court — for sport
  5. court — of law
  6. spring — a coil
  7. march — the month
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. tear — from crying
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. wound — an injury
  19. march — music
  20. tear — to rip
  21. march — the month
  22. pass — a permit
  23. tear — from crying
  24. spring — the season

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