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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. wind — moving air
  3. bat — the animal
  4. prune — to trim
  5. cue — for pool
  6. season — of the year
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. cue — a hint
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. vault — a safe
  14. season — in sport
  15. wind — moving air
  16. game — wild animals
  17. prune — to trim
  18. court — for sport
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. cue — a signal
  21. game — a match
  22. court — of a king
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. court — of law

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