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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 116 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: club · rule · wind · present · ground · band · court · sharp

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. court — for sport
  3. present — the time now
  4. wind — moving air
  5. club — a group
  6. band — a music group
  7. ground — crushed
  8. rule — a law
  9. club — for dancing
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. present — there
  12. court — of law
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. sharp — clever
  15. ground — a position
  16. rule — government
  17. court — of a king
  18. wind — moving air
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. ground — the earth
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. band — a ring
  24. club — for golf

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