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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. court — of law
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. season — of the year
  5. ground — a position
  6. band — a ring
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. firm — steady
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. bark — to shout
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. game — wild animals
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. band — a music group
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. firm — a company
  18. court — of a king
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. season — in sport
  21. ground — crushed
  22. ground — the earth
  23. firm — decided
  24. court — for sport

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