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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. court — for sport
  3. spring — of water
  4. pop — soda
  5. saw — the tool
  6. branch — a division
  7. saw — the tool
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. court — of a king
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. rash — hasty
  17. plane — a tool
  18. spring — the season
  19. spring — a coil
  20. pop — music
  21. court — of law
  22. bat — the animal
  23. pop — to visit
  24. rash — a series

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