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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. last — final
  3. band — a ring
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. kid — child
  6. court — of a king
  7. lean — thin
  8. last — to go on
  9. spring — of water
  10. lean — to bend
  11. court — of law
  12. root — of a word
  13. spring — the season
  14. last — finally
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. root — the cause
  17. court — for sport
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. root — of a plant
  21. band — a music group
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. spring — a coil
  24. band — a rubber band

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