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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 116 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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. current — electric
  3. band — a ring
  4. court — of a king
  5. court — for sport
  6. current — happening now
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. stand — to bear
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. clip — for paper
  12. current — of water
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. clip — to cut
  15. court — of law
  16. mine — for digging
  17. chair — a leader
  18. clip — a video
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. pitcher — a jug

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