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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: fine · court · spring · temple · bark · swing · race · sharp

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. swing — to play on
  4. fine — all right
  5. spring — of water
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. swing — music
  9. sharp — clever
  10. swing — in golf
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. bark — to shout
  13. court — of a king
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. fine — high quality
  17. race — a contest
  18. spring — the season
  19. court — for sport
  20. race — the arms race
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. court — of law
  23. race — humankind
  24. spring — a coil

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