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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: drill · cell · bulb · band · court · race

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. bulb — for light
  3. band — a music group
  4. court — of a king
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. race — the arms race
  8. race — a contest
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. race — humankind
  11. court — for sport
  12. cell — in biology
  13. drill — a practice
  14. drill — the tool
  15. court — of law
  16. drill — army training
  17. cell — a phone
  18. bulb — for light

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