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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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. staff — employees
  3. prune — to trim
  4. spring — a coil
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. pass — to spend time
  7. court — for sport
  8. court — of a king
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. pass — a permit
  11. object — a thing
  12. spring — of water
  13. cell — in biology
  14. prune — to trim
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. staff — employees
  17. cell — a phone
  18. band — a ring
  19. court — of law
  20. spring — the season
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. staff — a stick
  23. object — to protest
  24. band — a music group

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