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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. court — of a king
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. ball — a dance
  7. capital — a city
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. field — a subject
  10. rash — hasty
  11. rash — a series
  12. hand — help
  13. capital — money
  14. bass — low music
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. field — for sport
  17. hand — in cards
  18. field — farmland
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. court — of law
  21. court — for sport
  22. ball — a great time
  23. bass — the fish
  24. capital — a big letter

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