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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 116 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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. mate — to breed
  3. pop — soda
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. prune — to trim
  6. pop — to visit
  7. craft — a skill
  8. court — for sport
  9. mate — a friend
  10. prune — to trim
  11. spring — a coil
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. band — a ring
  14. court — of law
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. mate — a partner
  17. spring — the season
  18. pop — music
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. spring — of water
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. court — of a king
  24. band — a music group

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