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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: land · prune · rest · court · spring · cold · cue · fan

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. prune — to trim
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. rest — what's left
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. cold — an illness
  7. spring — of water
  8. land — to come down
  9. land — a country
  10. spring — the season
  11. court — of a king
  12. rest — a break
  13. spring — a coil
  14. cold — not warm
  15. prune — to trim
  16. court — for sport
  17. land — ground
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. cue — for pool
  21. cue — a hint
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. cue — a signal
  24. rest — what's left

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