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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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · band · hand · fall · mine · bass · chair · prune

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. mine — for digging
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. chair — a leader
  6. prune — to trim
  7. court — of a king
  8. hand — help
  9. band — a ring
  10. hand — in cards
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. bass — the fish
  14. fall — to drop
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. fall — the season
  17. court — of law
  18. prune — to trim
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. fall — to drop
  21. band — a music group
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. court — for sport

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