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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. The tickets are free of ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. row — a line
  3. branch — a division
  4. court — for sport
  5. club — for dancing
  6. shower — to wash
  7. net — in sport
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. net — after costs
  10. club — for golf
  11. club — a group
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. charge — a price
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. charge — in control
  16. band — a music group
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. charge — electricity
  19. shower — rain
  20. net — for catching
  21. band — a ring
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. row — to paddle
  24. court — of law

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