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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. fine — all right
  3. shower — rain
  4. court — of a king
  5. spring — the season
  6. tear — from crying
  7. tear — from crying
  8. spring — of water
  9. court — of law
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. tear — to rip
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. prune — to trim
  17. shower — to wash
  18. spring — a coil
  19. ball — a dance
  20. ball — a great time
  21. court — for sport
  22. prune — to trim
  23. fine — high quality
  24. row — to paddle

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