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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 120 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. swing — music
  3. court — of law
  4. ground — the earth
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. bulb — for light
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. ground — crushed
  9. mine — for digging
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. swing — to play on
  12. swing — in golf
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. season — of the year
  15. court — of a king
  16. bulb — for light
  17. court — for sport
  18. ground — a position
  19. season — in sport
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. branch — a division
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. mine — belonging to me

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