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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: ground · leaves · hand · court · bay · mine · game · spell

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. My mare is ________________ in color.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. court — of a king
  3. ground — a position
  4. spell — a short time
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. game — a match
  7. spell — magic
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. ground — the earth
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. court — for sport
  14. mine — for digging
  15. game — wild animals
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. court — of law
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. hand — help
  20. spell — letters
  21. hand — in cards
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. bay — a horse colour
  24. leaves — of a tree

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