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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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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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. prune — to trim
  3. swing — in golf
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. court — of a king
  6. swing — to play on
  7. swing — music
  8. rash — a series
  9. prune — to trim
  10. date — the fruit
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. court — of law
  16. rash — hasty
  17. mine — for digging
  18. foot — a measure
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. wind — moving air
  22. wind — moving air
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. mine — an explosive

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