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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. scale — size or range
  4. scale — in music
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. track — a song
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. branch — a division
  11. board — a committee
  12. court — for sport
  13. track — a path
  14. track — to keep track
  15. band — a music group
  16. court — of law
  17. cold — not warm
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. court — of a king
  22. board — to get on
  23. band — a ring
  24. branch — of a bank

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