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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: kid · spring · bay · drill · board · plane · court · mine

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. drill — a practice
  4. court — for sport
  5. board — to get on
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. drill — army training
  10. board — a committee
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. plane — a tool
  13. spring — of water
  14. court — of a king
  15. kid — to tease
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. kid — child
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. spring — a coil
  21. mine — for digging
  22. drill — the tool
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. spring — the season

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