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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 was locked up in a ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. bat — the animal
  3. bass — low music
  4. court — of law
  5. band — a music group
  6. band — a ring
  7. game — a match
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. bound — obliged
  10. game — wild animals
  11. cell — a phone
  12. court — of a king
  13. bound — tied together
  14. club — a group
  15. club — for golf
  16. club — for dancing
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. cell — in biology
  19. court — for sport
  20. bass — the fish
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bound — certain
  24. bat — in an idiom

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