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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 fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. last — to go on
  3. spring — a coil
  4. spell — magic
  5. spell — a short time
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. date — the fruit
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. spell — letters
  10. court — for sport
  11. bass — low music
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. court — of a king
  14. last — final
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. spring — the season
  17. spring — of water
  18. stand — to bear
  19. court — of law
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. sharp — clever
  23. last — finally
  24. date — on the calendar

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