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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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. band — a music group
  3. rock — music
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. rush — hurry
  6. court — of a king
  7. stock — shares
  8. row — to paddle
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. stock — goods
  11. court — of law
  12. drill — a practice
  13. band — a ring
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. bark — to shout
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. drill — army training
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. row — a line
  22. rock — a stone
  23. drill — the tool
  24. band — a rubber band

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