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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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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: spring · snap · chair · rest · wind · squash · march · court

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. march — music
  4. rest — what's left
  5. spring — of water
  6. rest — what's left
  7. court — of a king
  8. court — of law
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. spring — a coil
  11. spring — the season
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. chair — a leader
  14. wind — moving air
  15. squash — to crush
  16. snap — to click
  17. squash — the sport
  18. wind — moving air
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. march — the month
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. march — the month
  23. rest — a break
  24. court — for sport

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