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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. land — to come down
  3. band — a ring
  4. land — a country
  5. court — of law
  6. board — a committee
  7. board — to get on
  8. band — a music group
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. court — of a king
  11. snap — to click
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. craft — a skill
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. land — ground
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. craft — boats
  18. snap — to speak sharply

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