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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. roll — a list
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. court — of law
  6. rash — hasty
  7. rash — a series
  8. court — of a king
  9. game — a match
  10. last — finally
  11. spring — the season
  12. spring — a coil
  13. spring — of water
  14. game — wild animals
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. last — to go on
  19. roll — a cake
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. court — for sport
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. racket — a loud noise

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