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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 124 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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: spring · land · tear · bowl · court · fine

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. fine — high quality
  3. tear — from crying
  4. land — to come down
  5. land — ground
  6. fine — all right
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. spring — of water
  9. tear — from crying
  10. tear — to rip
  11. court — of a king
  12. land — a country
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. spring — a coil
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. spring — the season
  17. court — for sport
  18. court — of law

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