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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. wind — moving air
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. court — for sport
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. spring — of water
  8. kid — child
  9. shower — rain
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. kid — to tease
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. court — of a king
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. plane — a tool
  16. wind — moving air
  17. shower — to wash
  18. present — a gift
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. present — the time now
  21. spring — the season
  22. present — there
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. spring — a coil

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