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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. court — of law
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. court — for sport
  5. band — a music group
  6. net — after costs
  7. saw — the tool
  8. fall — to drop
  9. fall — to drop
  10. court — of a king
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. net — for catching
  13. rush — hurry
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. bound — obliged
  18. fall — the season
  19. bound — tied together
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. bound — certain
  22. saw — the tool
  23. band — a ring
  24. net — in 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