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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. court — of a king
  3. root — of a plant
  4. wound — an injury
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. root — of a word
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. bulb — for light
  10. tear — from crying
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. craft — boats
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. court — of law
  16. root — the cause
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — to rip
  21. wound — an injury
  22. craft — a skill
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. bulb — for light

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