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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 120 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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. prune — to trim
  3. pop — to visit
  4. perch — the fish
  5. court — of law
  6. ground — a position
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. ground — crushed
  9. pop — music
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. chip — for betting
  12. rash — hasty
  13. pop — soda
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. rash — a series
  17. prune — to trim
  18. wind — moving air
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. ground — the earth
  21. court — of a king
  22. chip — to eat
  23. wind — moving air
  24. chip — in a computer

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