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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: pass · chest · squash · prune · racket · court

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. court — of a king
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. prune — to trim
  5. squash — the sport
  6. court — for sport
  7. chest — of your body
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. court — of law
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. chest — of your body
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. squash — to crush
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. pass — a permit
  18. chest — a box

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