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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: roll · rash · court · squash · bat · date · ground · foot

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. ground — crushed
  3. court — of a king
  4. squash — to crush
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. roll — a cake
  11. ground — the earth
  12. foot — a measure
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. court — for sport
  16. date — the fruit
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. squash — the sport
  19. roll — a list
  20. bat — the animal
  21. rash — a series
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. court — of law
  24. ground — a position

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