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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. court — of a king
  5. ground — a position
  6. wound — an injury
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. lean — thin
  9. bulb — for light
  10. lean — to bend
  11. court — of law
  12. game — a match
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. ground — the earth
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. ground — crushed
  17. rash — hasty
  18. court — for sport
  19. bulb — for light
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. rash — a series
  22. wound — an injury
  23. game — wild animals
  24. lean — to rest against

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