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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. land — ground
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. court — for sport
  6. cold — an illness
  7. march — music
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. net — for catching
  11. squash — the sport
  12. bulb — for light
  13. squash — to crush
  14. march — the month
  15. bulb — for light
  16. net — in sport
  17. cold — not warm
  18. net — after costs
  19. court — of a king
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. court — of law
  23. land — to come down
  24. land — a country

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