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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: trunk · spring · mug · rest · rush · scale · tear · court

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. court — of a king
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. rest — a break
  5. spring — the season
  6. court — for sport
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. tear — to rip
  9. rest — what's left
  10. tear — from crying
  11. scale — in music
  12. rest — what's left
  13. spring — a coil
  14. tear — from crying
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. mug — a face
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. court — of law
  20. spring — of water
  21. scale — size or range
  22. mug — to rob
  23. mug — a cup
  24. rush — a thrill

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