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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: court · spring · nail · cold · rash · fork · bass · trunk

  1. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. spring — a coil
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. cold — an illness
  6. court — of law
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. rash — a series
  11. spring — the season
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. bass — low music
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. bass — the fish
  16. rash — hasty
  17. spring — of water
  18. court — for sport
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. court — of a king
  21. cold — not warm
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. fork — in a road
  24. bass — the instrument

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