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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. swing — in golf
  3. prune — to trim
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. bat — the animal
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. swing — to play on
  8. court — of a king
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. prune — to trim
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. pound — a weight
  14. court — of law
  15. swing — music
  16. ball — a dance
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. court — for sport
  21. branch — a division
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. pound — for dogs

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