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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. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  20. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. court — for sport
  3. band — a music group
  4. toast — bread
  5. cold — not warm
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. row — a line
  8. band — a ring
  9. ground — a position
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. court — of a king
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. court — of law
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. ground — crushed
  19. toast — a drink to someone
  20. toast — the most admired
  21. ground — the earth
  22. bank — of a river
  23. bank — for money
  24. row — to paddle

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