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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. stem — to come from
  7. court — of law
  8. spring — of water
  9. spring — a coil
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. tube — a container
  12. court — of a king
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. game — a match
  16. tube — the underground
  17. squash — to crush
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. court — for sport
  20. spring — the season
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. squash — the sport
  24. game — wild animals

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