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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: bore · rush · pit · spring · cold · court · fall · chest

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. court — for sport
  3. chest — a box
  4. fall — to drop
  5. chest — of your body
  6. spring — a coil
  7. chest — of your body
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. court — of a king
  11. cold — not warm
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. fall — the season
  15. pit — a hole
  16. court — of law
  17. spring — of water
  18. cold — an illness
  19. bore — to tire
  20. fall — to drop
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. rush — hurry
  23. bore — to drill
  24. pit — in a race

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