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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: bat · court · lie · spring · hand · stem · kid · wake

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. hand — in cards
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. spring — of water
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. wake — a trail
  8. kid — to tease
  9. stem — to come from
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. court — of law
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. spring — the season
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. kid — child
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. bat — the animal
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. court — for sport
  22. lie — to recline
  23. hand — help
  24. spring — a coil

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