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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. wake — a trail
  6. wound — an injury
  7. band — a ring
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. court — for sport
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. degree — from a university
  13. bass — the fish
  14. cell — a phone
  15. bass — low music
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. degree — an amount
  18. wound — an injury
  19. court — of law
  20. court — of a king
  21. cell — in biology
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. bay — a part of the sea
  24. degree — temperature

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