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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. track — a song
  4. track — to keep track
  5. chip — for betting
  6. spring — of water
  7. bulb — for light
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. march — music
  11. court — of law
  12. spring — a coil
  13. march — the month
  14. bulb — for light
  15. bat — the animal
  16. court — for sport
  17. chip — to eat
  18. track — a path
  19. march — the month
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. court — of a king
  24. spring — the season

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