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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. pop — soda
  3. bat — the animal
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. bulb — for light
  8. capital — money
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. court — of law
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. capital — a city
  14. pop — music
  15. fork — in a road
  16. court — for sport
  17. bulb — for light
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. scale — size or range
  21. branch — a division
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. pop — to visit
  24. scale — in music

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