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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. pop — soda
  3. game — wild animals
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. cold — not warm
  7. court — for sport
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. pop — music
  10. court — of a king
  11. pop — to visit
  12. bulb — for light
  13. court — of law
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. cold — an illness
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. bulb — for light
  21. craft — a skill
  22. game — a match
  23. scale — in music
  24. craft — boats

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