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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 120 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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. court — of a king
  3. foot — part of the body
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. net — in sport
  6. spring — a coil
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. net — after costs
  9. net — for catching
  10. file — a line of people
  11. court — of law
  12. spring — the season
  13. cold — not warm
  14. file — a tool
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. foot — a measure
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. court — for sport
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. spell — a short time
  21. file — a document
  22. cold — an illness
  23. spring — of water
  24. spell — letters

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