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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. spring — the season
  3. spell — letters
  4. mine — for digging
  5. court — for sport
  6. face — part of the head
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. tear — from crying
  9. court — of law
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. face — to confront
  12. tear — from crying
  13. spring — of water
  14. spell — magic
  15. ground — crushed
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. tear — to rip
  18. spell — a short time
  19. stock — goods
  20. stock — shares
  21. face — to point toward
  22. spring — a coil
  23. ground — the earth
  24. court — of a king

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