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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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. spring — the season
  3. rush — hurry
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. mug — to rob
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. cold — an illness
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. court — of law
  11. stand — to bear
  12. mug — a cup
  13. ground — crushed
  14. mug — a face
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. ground — a position
  17. ground — the earth
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. spring — a coil
  20. spring — of water
  21. cold — not warm
  22. court — for sport
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. patient — a sick person

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