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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: game · squash · branch · bat · ground · band · pop · court

  1. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. pop — music
  3. squash — the sport
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. band — a ring
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. ground — a position
  11. branch — a division
  12. squash — to crush
  13. ground — crushed
  14. pop — to visit
  15. ground — the earth
  16. pop — soda
  17. court — for sport
  18. game — wild animals
  19. court — of law
  20. court — of a king
  21. bat — the animal
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. band — a music group
  24. game — a match

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