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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: firm · land · kid · board · present · court · saw · spring

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. court — of a king
  3. saw — the tool
  4. court — for sport
  5. kid — child
  6. court — of law
  7. saw — the tool
  8. present — a gift
  9. land — a country
  10. board — to get on
  11. kid — to tease
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. firm — decided
  14. present — the time now
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. land — to come down
  17. land — ground
  18. firm — steady
  19. board — a committee
  20. firm — a company
  21. spring — the season
  22. spring — of water
  23. present — there
  24. board — a flat piece

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