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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. spring — a coil
  3. spring — the season
  4. toast — the most admired
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. content — happy
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. content — the amount
  11. ground — a position
  12. wind — moving air
  13. toast — bread
  14. wind — moving air
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. ground — the earth
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. court — for sport
  19. spring — of water
  20. court — of a king
  21. ground — crushed
  22. root — of a plant
  23. root — of a word
  24. root — the cause

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