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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 120 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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. band — a music group
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. prune — to trim
  7. court — of a king
  8. court — for sport
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. board — a committee
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. chip — to eat
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. game — wild animals
  16. court — of law
  17. game — a match
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. swing — in golf
  20. swing — music
  21. board — to get on
  22. swing — to play on
  23. chip — for betting
  24. prune — to trim

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