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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. prune — to trim
  3. bound — obliged
  4. bound — certain
  5. march — the month
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. pop — to visit
  8. bat — the animal
  9. court — of a king
  10. scale — in music
  11. march — music
  12. pop — music
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. scale — size or range
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. pop — soda
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. court — for sport
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. kick — in football
  22. march — the month
  23. bound — tied together
  24. prune — to trim

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