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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. court — for sport
  3. spring — of water
  4. rest — what's left
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. wind — moving air
  8. spring — the season
  9. degree — from a university
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. pitch — completely
  12. rest — a break
  13. rest — what's left
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. degree — temperature
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. court — of law
  18. snap — to click
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. wind — moving air
  21. degree — an amount
  22. spring — a coil
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. wind — to turn a key

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