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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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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: bulb · club · game · shower · squash · bat · court · wave

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. bat — the animal
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. shower — to wash
  5. club — a group
  6. bulb — for light
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. game — a match
  9. court — for sport
  10. court — of law
  11. bulb — for light
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. squash — the sport
  17. bulb — of a plant
  18. squash — to crush
  19. club — for dancing
  20. shower — rain
  21. game — wild animals
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. court — of a king

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