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

Word bank: court · rash · bear · wound · tear · cell

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. tear — from crying
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. rash — a series
  5. wound — an injury
  6. court — for sport
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. tear — to rip
  9. cell — a phone
  10. wound — an injury
  11. court — of law
  12. cell — in biology
  13. bear — the animal
  14. bear — the animal
  15. tear — from crying
  16. rash — hasty
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. rash — on the skin

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