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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. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. band — a music group
  3. court — for sport
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. staff — a stick
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. pop — soda
  9. court — of a king
  10. pop — to visit
  11. row — to paddle
  12. band — a ring
  13. row — a line
  14. shower — to wash
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. pop — music
  18. bat — the animal
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. shower — rain
  21. staff — employees
  22. court — of law
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. staff — employees

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