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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 116 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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. court — of a king
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. last — to go on
  6. rush — hurry
  7. degree — from a university
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. prune — to trim
  10. court — of law
  11. ground — a position
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. ground — crushed
  14. last — finally
  15. ground — the earth
  16. court — for sport
  17. kick — in football
  18. last — final
  19. degree — temperature
  20. prune — to trim
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. bulb — for light
  23. degree — an amount
  24. bulb — for light

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