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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 ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. court — for sport
  3. net — for catching
  4. land — to come down
  5. land — ground
  6. bound — obliged
  7. bound — tied together
  8. band — a ring
  9. last — finally
  10. court — of a king
  11. chip — for betting
  12. band — a music group
  13. net — after costs
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. last — final
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. net — in sport
  18. kid — to tease
  19. land — a country
  20. chip — to eat
  21. bound — certain
  22. last — to go on
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. kid — child

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