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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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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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. court — for sport
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. pass — to spend time
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. game — a match
  11. fine — all right
  12. cold — an illness
  13. cold — not warm
  14. prune — to trim
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. rush — hurry
  17. court — of law
  18. game — wild animals
  19. pass — a permit
  20. prune — to trim
  21. fine — high quality
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. court — of a king
  24. band — a ring

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