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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. branch — a division
  4. squash — the sport
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. ground — crushed
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. court — of law
  11. ball — a great time
  12. date — the fruit
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. ground — a position
  15. court — for sport
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. court — of a king
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. ball — a dance
  22. squash — to crush
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. ground — the earth

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