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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. bass — low music
  3. face — to point toward
  4. band — a music group
  5. field — a subject
  6. bank — for money
  7. court — of law
  8. root — the cause
  9. field — farmland
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. game — wild animals
  12. face — to confront
  13. bank — for money
  14. band — a ring
  15. root — of a plant
  16. root — of a word
  17. face — part of the head
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. court — for sport
  20. bank — of a river
  21. bass — the fish
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. game — a match
  24. field — 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