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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 put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. court — of a king
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. game — a match
  5. capital — a city
  6. band — a music group
  7. capital — money
  8. court — of law
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. net — in sport
  13. band — a ring
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. game — wild animals
  17. bat — the animal
  18. court — for sport
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. net — after costs
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. net — for catching

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