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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. ground — the earth
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. bound — tied together
  7. bound — obliged
  8. court — of law
  9. last — final
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. last — finally
  13. kid — to tease
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. ground — crushed
  17. kid — child
  18. ground — a position
  19. court — of a king
  20. last — to go on
  21. band — a ring
  22. bound — certain
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. band — a music group

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