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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: mine · wound · court · can · row · lash · cold · date

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. court — for sport
  3. row — a line
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. cold — an illness
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — an injury
  10. row — to paddle
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. can — a tin
  14. can — a tin
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. court — of law
  17. cold — not warm
  18. date — the fruit
  19. can — to be able to
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. mine — for digging
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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