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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. rush — hurry
  4. current — of water
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. current — happening now
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. tear — from crying
  10. tear — from crying
  11. court — of a king
  12. band — a music group
  13. court — of law
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. band — a ring
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. current — electric
  18. tear — to rip
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. game — wild animals
  21. pound — a weight
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. game — a match

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