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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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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: march · snap · bear · pop · wind · tear · court · lean

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. lean — to bend
  3. pop — to visit
  4. court — of law
  5. march — music
  6. tear — from crying
  7. snap — to click
  8. pop — music
  9. bear — the animal
  10. march — the month
  11. tear — to rip
  12. wind — moving air
  13. lean — thin
  14. bear — the animal
  15. march — the month
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. court — of a king
  19. pop — soda
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. wind — moving air
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. tear — from crying

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