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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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468
Word bank
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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. rest — a break
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. bulb — for light
  6. spell — letters
  7. rest — what's left
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. date — the fruit
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. court — of law
  13. bulb — for light
  14. court — of a king
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. ball — a great time
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. fork — in a road
  20. rest — what's left
  21. spell — magic
  22. court — for sport
  23. spell — a short time
  24. date — on the calendar

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