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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. court — of law
  4. pop — soda
  5. spring — the season
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. foot — a measure
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. court — of a king
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. hand — in cards
  14. pop — to visit
  15. hand — help
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. court — for sport
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. spring — of water
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. spring — a coil
  23. pop — music
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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