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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. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. bat — the animal
  5. track — a path
  6. squash — the sport
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. spring — the season
  9. rush — hurry
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. court — for sport
  12. court — of a king
  13. club — for dancing
  14. squash — to crush
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. court — of law
  17. spring — a coil
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. club — for golf
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. track — a song
  23. spring — of water
  24. track — to keep track

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