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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: court · prune · pop · bat · spring · squash · bound · wave

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. squash — to crush
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. court — for sport
  6. spring — a coil
  7. pop — soda
  8. court — of law
  9. bound — obliged
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. pop — to visit
  12. squash — the sport
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. prune — to trim
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. bound — tied together
  18. bat — the animal
  19. court — of a king
  20. spring — of water
  21. prune — to trim
  22. pop — music
  23. bound — certain
  24. wave — of the sea

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