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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: court · kid · ruler · straw · field · deal · spell · spring

  1. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — for measuring
  2. kid — to tease
  3. field — a subject
  4. spell — letters
  5. field — farmland
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. kid — child
  8. spell — magic
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. spring — of water
  13. field — for sport
  14. court — for sport
  15. ruler — a monarch
  16. court — of a king
  17. deal — to handle
  18. spring — the season
  19. court — of law
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. spring — a coil
  22. spell — a short time
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. ruler — for measuring

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