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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.

Make a worksheet

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: ball · rush · plane · kick · court · wind · date · lean

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. wind — moving air
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. court — for sport
  5. ball — a great time
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. lean — to bend
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. ball — a dance
  11. court — of a king
  12. wind — moving air
  13. kick — in football
  14. plane — a tool
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. court — of law
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. lean — thin
  23. date — the fruit
  24. lean — to rest against

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