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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: bat · court · rest · squash · spring · game · scale · bound

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  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. court — for sport
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. squash — to crush
  5. scale — in music
  6. game — wild animals
  7. rest — what's left
  8. bound — tied together
  9. squash — the sport
  10. court — of law
  11. spring — the season
  12. bound — certain
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. bat — the animal
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. scale — size or range
  18. spring — of water
  19. rest — what's left
  20. rest — a break
  21. spring — a coil
  22. game — a match
  23. bound — obliged
  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