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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: court · track · wind · chip · spring · kid · suit · last

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. When will it ________________ you to start?
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. kid — child
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. suit — to fit
  5. court — of law
  6. suit — clothes
  7. court — for sport
  8. spring — a coil
  9. chip — to eat
  10. court — of a king
  11. track — to keep track
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. track — a path
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. spring — the season
  18. spring — of water
  19. suit — in cards
  20. last — finally
  21. last — final
  22. last — to go on
  23. chip — for betting
  24. track — a song

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