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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  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. fall — to drop
  2. spring — the season
  3. club — a group
  4. root — of a plant
  5. court — for sport
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. club — for golf
  9. fall — to drop
  10. cold — an illness
  11. spring — of water
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. club — for dancing
  14. court — of law
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. cold — not warm
  17. root — of a word
  18. fall — the season
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. root — the cause
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. spring — a coil
  23. fan — a supporter
  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