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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. prune — to trim
  3. roll — a cake
  4. squash — to crush
  5. court — of a king
  6. rest — what's left
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. roll — a list
  9. squash — the sport
  10. spring — of water
  11. track — a song
  12. prune — to trim
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. season — in sport
  15. rest — a break
  16. track — a path
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. spring — a coil
  19. rest — what's left
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. track — to keep track
  22. court — for sport
  23. court — of law
  24. season — of the year

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