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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
468
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 · hide · date · kick · bulb · bat · pop · stem

  1. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. court — of a king
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. pop — soda
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. court — for sport
  10. stem — to come from
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. bat — the animal
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. pop — music
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. pop — to visit
  19. bulb — for light
  20. date — the fruit
  21. court — of law
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. bulb — for light
  24. bat — for baseball

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