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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: trunk · court · spring · ball · season · rash · bulb · march

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. march — the month
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. ball — a dance
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. ball — a great time
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. court — for sport
  10. court — of a king
  11. spring — the season
  12. spring — a coil
  13. bulb — for light
  14. march — music
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. season — of the year
  17. spring — of water
  18. bulb — for light
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. rash — hasty
  21. season — in sport
  22. rash — a series
  23. court — of law
  24. trunk — of a tree

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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