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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 girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. row — a line
  3. bulb — for light
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. root — the cause
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. root — of a plant
  9. drill — army training
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. drill — the tool
  13. bat — the animal
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. court — for sport
  17. drill — a practice
  18. bulb — for light
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. court — of law
  21. date — the fruit
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. root — of a word
  24. row — to paddle

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