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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. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. band — a music group
  3. club — a group
  4. band — a ring
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. court — of law
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. ground — a position
  10. wound — an injury
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. court — for sport
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. club — for golf
  17. club — for dancing
  18. ground — the earth
  19. row — to paddle
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. court — of a king
  22. wound — an injury
  23. ground — crushed
  24. row — a line

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