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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. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. ball — a dance
  3. file — a document
  4. bulb — for light
  5. spell — magic
  6. spell — a short time
  7. rest — a break
  8. rest — what's left
  9. ball — a great time
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. chest — of your body
  12. court — for sport
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. spell — letters
  15. chest — of your body
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. file — a tool
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. court — of law
  20. file — a line of people
  21. rest — what's left
  22. chest — a box
  23. wake — a trail
  24. court — of a king

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