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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: spring · court · saw · foot · squash · cold · hand · craft

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. foot — the bottom
  4. spring — a coil
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. craft — boats
  8. hand — help
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. cold — not warm
  11. squash — the sport
  12. foot — a measure
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. saw — the tool
  15. craft — a skill
  16. saw — the tool
  17. squash — to crush
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. court — of law
  20. court — for sport
  21. cold — an illness
  22. spring — of water
  23. spring — the season
  24. hand — in cards

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