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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: court · tear · jam · club · cold · bay · band · branch

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. My mare is ________________ in color.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. tear — to rip
  3. court — of a king
  4. club — a group
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. bay — a horse colour
  8. branch — a division
  9. tear — from crying
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cold — not warm
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. club — for dancing
  16. jam — a tight spot
  17. band — a music group
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. club — for golf
  20. court — of law
  21. band — a ring
  22. cold — an illness
  23. tear — from crying
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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