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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. band — a ring
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. band — a music group
  5. cold — not warm
  6. fork — in a road
  7. court — of law
  8. mark — a trace
  9. present — the time now
  10. court — for sport
  11. cold — an illness
  12. present — there
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. ball — a dance
  16. mark — a grade
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. present — a gift
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. bound — certain
  22. bound — obliged
  23. court — of a king
  24. bound — tied together

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