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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 120 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: squash · court · spring · bank · rash · lash · wound · kid

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. bank — of a river
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. court — of a king
  5. squash — the sport
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. court — of law
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. spring — a coil
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. wound — an injury
  12. squash — to crush
  13. rash — a series
  14. bank — for money
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. rash — hasty
  17. spring — the season
  18. bank — for money
  19. kid — to tease
  20. spring — of water
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. kid — child
  24. wound — an injury

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