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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. cue — a signal
  3. court — of a king
  4. row — a line
  5. root — of a plant
  6. court — for sport
  7. face — part of the head
  8. root — of a word
  9. sharp — clever
  10. row — to paddle
  11. face — to confront
  12. spring — a coil
  13. swing — in golf
  14. court — of law
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. swing — to play on
  17. spring — the season
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. cue — for pool
  20. cue — a hint
  21. face — to point toward
  22. root — the cause
  23. swing — music
  24. spring — of water

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