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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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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: court · rock · band · chest · stick · bear · dip · scale

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. 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. rock — music
  2. court — of a king
  3. chest — of your body
  4. court — for sport
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. dip — to sink
  14. scale — size or range
  15. court — of law
  16. band — a ring
  17. rock — a stone
  18. bear — the animal
  19. scale — in music
  20. chest — of your body
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. chest — a box
  23. bear — the animal
  24. 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