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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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Word bank
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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: band · content · court · game · bass · mouse

  1. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. bass — low music
  3. bass — the fish
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. game — a match
  6. content — the amount
  7. court — for sport
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. court — of law
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. content — happy
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. band — a ring
  16. court — of a king
  17. game — wild animals
  18. band — a music group

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