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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 · squash · spring · court · pound · chair · rash · club

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. bulb — for light
  3. squash — the sport
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. court — of a king
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. spring — of water
  8. club — for golf
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. spring — a coil
  11. club — for dancing
  12. court — for sport
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. court — of law
  16. rash — a series
  17. chair — a leader
  18. squash — to crush
  19. club — a group
  20. pound — a weight
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. spring — the season
  24. bulb — for light

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