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

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. spell — letters
  3. land — ground
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. swing — in golf
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. swing — to play on
  9. march — the month
  10. court — for sport
  11. cap — of ice
  12. spell — magic
  13. prune — to trim
  14. cap — a hat
  15. land — a country
  16. prune — to trim
  17. land — to come down
  18. court — of law
  19. cap — a lid
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. swing — music
  22. march — music
  23. spell — a short time
  24. march — the month

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