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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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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: hide · spring · swing · bowl · kid · fine · court · wind

  1. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. court — for sport
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. fine — all right
  5. kid — child
  6. spring — of water
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. court — of a king
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. wind — moving air
  12. spring — the season
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. spring — a coil
  15. wind — moving air
  16. fine — high quality
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. kid — to tease
  19. court — of law
  20. swing — to play on
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. swing — in golf
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. swing — music

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