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

Word bank: ground · squash · prune · fall · snap · court · bat · hide

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. squash — the sport
  4. bat — the animal
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. ground — crushed
  7. snap — to click
  8. fall — the season
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. ground — the earth
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. court — for sport
  13. fall — to drop
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. prune — to trim
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. court — of a king
  19. ground — a position
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. fall — to drop
  22. squash — to crush
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. prune — to trim

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