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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.

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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: court · bulb · row · object · season · mate · scale · hand

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. court — of law
  3. object — an aim
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. mate — a friend
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. season — in sport
  8. hand — help
  9. mate — a partner
  10. season — of the year
  11. hand — in cards
  12. bulb — for light
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. mate — to breed
  15. row — to paddle
  16. object — to protest
  17. bulb — for light
  18. object — a thing
  19. scale — size or range
  20. scale — in music
  21. court — of a king
  22. row — a line
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. scale — for weighing

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