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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. chest — of your body
  4. spell — a short time
  5. row — a line
  6. chest — a box
  7. spell — magic
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. prune — to trim
  10. game — a match
  11. court — of a king
  12. prune — to trim
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. row — to paddle
  15. court — for sport
  16. court — of law
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. spell — letters
  20. season — in sport
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. chest — of your body
  23. game — wild animals
  24. wave — of the sea

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