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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. foot — a measure
  3. prune — to trim
  4. court — of law
  5. prune — to trim
  6. bass — low music
  7. cold — an illness
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. vault — a safe
  11. track — to keep track
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. track — a path
  17. cold — not warm
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. bass — the fish
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. sharp — clever
  22. court — for sport
  23. court — of a king
  24. foot — the bottom

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