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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. rash — hasty
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. club — a group
  5. spring — a coil
  6. spring — of water
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. club — for dancing
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. spring — the season
  12. bulb — for light
  13. court — of law
  14. bulb — for light
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. court — for sport
  18. stem — to come from
  19. rash — a series
  20. court — of a king
  21. branch — a division
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. branch — of a bank

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