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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 120 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: straw · prune · squash · court · spring · lash · rest · temple

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. prune — to trim
  3. squash — the sport
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. court — for sport
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. court — of law
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. squash — to crush
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. rest — what's left
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. spring — a coil
  14. spring — of water
  15. rest — what's left
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. prune — to trim
  20. rest — a break
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. spring — the season
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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