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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. court — of a king
  3. court — for sport
  4. pop — music
  5. bulb — for light
  6. net — in sport
  7. cap — of ice
  8. cap — a lid
  9. net — for catching
  10. fall — to drop
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. bulb — for light
  13. ball — a dance
  14. cap — a hat
  15. fall — to drop
  16. net — after costs
  17. bass — the fish
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. pop — soda
  20. pop — to visit
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. ball — a great time
  23. fall — the season
  24. court — of law

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