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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: band · cold · court · leaves · date · bass · last · net

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. net — in sport
  4. cold — not warm
  5. band — a music group
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. court — for sport
  8. bass — the fish
  9. cold — an illness
  10. net — for catching
  11. net — after costs
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. court — of a king
  16. bass — low music
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. court — of law
  19. last — finally
  20. band — a ring
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. date — the fruit
  24. last — final

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