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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: lean · season · cold · land · date · rock · court · wound

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. wound — an injury
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. court — of law
  5. rock — a stone
  6. rock — music
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. lean — to bend
  10. season — of the year
  11. cold — not warm
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. date — the fruit
  14. court — for sport
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. land — ground
  18. land — a country
  19. wound — an injury
  20. lean — thin
  21. season — in sport
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. cold — an illness
  24. land — to come down

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