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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. court — of a king
  3. mine — for digging
  4. court — for sport
  5. bass — low music
  6. tear — from crying
  7. bass — the fish
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. lean — thin
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. land — a country
  13. bulb — for light
  14. tear — to rip
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. bulb — for light
  17. land — ground
  18. court — of law
  19. bat — the animal
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. land — to come down
  24. lean — to bend

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