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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. When will it ________________ you to start?
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. court — for sport
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. spring — the season
  5. mate — a friend
  6. tear — from crying
  7. rest — what's left
  8. spring — of water
  9. suit — in cards
  10. spring — a coil
  11. rest — a break
  12. mate — to breed
  13. court — of a king
  14. suit — to fit
  15. cold — an illness
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. tear — from crying
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. suit — clothes
  20. rest — what's left
  21. mate — a partner
  22. cold — not warm
  23. tear — to rip
  24. fork — in a road

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