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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. cell — a phone
  3. ground — a position
  4. court — of law
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. ground — crushed
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. cell — in biology
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. court — for sport
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. net — in sport
  16. net — after costs
  17. ground — the earth
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. net — for catching
  20. band — a music group
  21. bore — to drill
  22. bore — to tire
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. court — of a king

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