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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 116 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: last · bat · court · clip · march · object · squash · spring

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. object — to protest
  3. object — a thing
  4. march — music
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. object — an aim
  7. last — to go on
  8. march — the month
  9. last — final
  10. court — of law
  11. spring — of water
  12. court — for sport
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. clip — for paper
  16. squash — the sport
  17. squash — to crush
  18. clip — to cut
  19. spring — the season
  20. last — finally
  21. clip — a video
  22. court — of a king
  23. bat — the animal
  24. spring — a coil

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