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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: bulb · squash · court · pitcher · file · sharp · bank · last

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. squash — the sport
  5. file — a line of people
  6. bulb — for light
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. last — finally
  9. bank — for money
  10. file — a document
  11. file — a tool
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. court — of a king
  15. last — to go on
  16. bulb — for light
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. sharp — clever
  19. court — of law
  20. court — for sport
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. bank — of a river
  23. squash — to crush
  24. bank — for money

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