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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 116 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: land · tear · wound · spell · perch · bulb · court · bear

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. bear — the animal
  3. bear — the animal
  4. court — for sport
  5. tear — from crying
  6. spell — magic
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. land — to come down
  9. land — ground
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. court — of a king
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. bulb — for light
  14. spell — letters
  15. tear — from crying
  16. wound — an injury
  17. wound — an injury
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. court — of law
  21. tear — to rip
  22. bulb — for light
  23. perch — the fish
  24. spell — a short time

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