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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 120 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: ball · last · drill · band · stand · game · tube · court

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. game — a match
  3. court — for sport
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. band — a ring
  6. tube — the underground
  7. tube — a container
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. last — to go on
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. ball — a dance
  12. court — of law
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. last — final
  15. drill — army training
  16. court — of a king
  17. stand — to bear
  18. game — wild animals
  19. drill — the tool
  20. band — a music group
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. drill — a practice
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. ball — a great time

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