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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 116 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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. season — in sport
  3. last — finally
  4. last — to go on
  5. court — of law
  6. squash — to crush
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. mate — to breed
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. squash — the sport
  11. mate — a friend
  12. last — final
  13. bass — the fish
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. kid — to tease
  16. court — for sport
  17. court — of a king
  18. lean — thin
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. mate — a partner
  21. kid — child
  22. bass — low music
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. season — of the year

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