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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: rash · spell · court · spring · board · straw · game · tear

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. tear — from crying
  3. spell — a short time
  4. spell — magic
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. court — of a king
  7. rash — a series
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. board — to get on
  10. court — of law
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. spring — of water
  14. tear — from crying
  15. rash — hasty
  16. game — a match
  17. spell — letters
  18. tear — to rip
  19. spring — the season
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. spring — a coil
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. court — for sport
  24. board — a committee

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