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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  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. court — of a king
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. spell — a short time
  4. prune — to trim
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. pop — soda
  7. band — a music group
  8. pop — to visit
  9. rest — a break
  10. prune — to trim
  11. rest — what's left
  12. march — the month
  13. march — the month
  14. pop — music
  15. band — a ring
  16. spell — letters
  17. court — for sport
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. rest — what's left
  21. spell — magic
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. march — music
  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