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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: spring · date · mate · row · court · wound · bound · lean

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. spring — of water
  3. mate — a friend
  4. lean — to bend
  5. spring — the season
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. court — of a king
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. bound — certain
  12. bound — obliged
  13. spring — a coil
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wound — an injury
  16. mate — to breed
  17. bound — tied together
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. mate — a partner
  20. court — of law
  21. court — for sport
  22. date — the fruit
  23. row — to paddle
  24. row — a line

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