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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: bulb · march · straw · kick · bowl · court · saw · mug

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. march — the month
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. court — of a king
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. bulb — for light
  7. saw — the tool
  8. march — the month
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. march — music
  12. saw — the tool
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. mug — to rob
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. court — for sport
  17. mug — a face
  18. mug — a cup
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. bulb — for light
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. court — of law
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. kick — in football

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