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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: bark · wake · band · kid · court · bass · swing · key

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. key — for a lock
  3. swing — music
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. band — a ring
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. court — of a king
  8. wake — a trail
  9. bass — the fish
  10. key — in music
  11. key — the most important part
  12. bark — to shout
  13. kid — child
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. swing — in golf
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. court — of law
  18. swing — to play on
  19. court — for sport
  20. band — a music group
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. bass — low music
  24. band — a rubber band

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