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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. court — of a king
  3. sharp — clever
  4. spring — the season
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. spring — a coil
  10. tear — from crying
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wind — moving air
  14. court — of law
  15. court — for sport
  16. tube — a container
  17. tear — from crying
  18. spring — of water
  19. pitch — completely
  20. mine — for digging
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. tube — the underground
  24. tear — to rip

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