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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: wind · last · court · object · charge · ground · pop · bass

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. The tickets are free of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. pop — music
  3. pop — to visit
  4. object — an aim
  5. last — final
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. object — a thing
  9. bass — low music
  10. ground — crushed
  11. last — to go on
  12. pop — soda
  13. last — finally
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. charge — electricity
  16. object — to protest
  17. court — of a king
  18. ground — a position
  19. charge — in control
  20. bass — the fish
  21. wind — moving air
  22. court — of law
  23. ground — the earth
  24. charge — a price

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