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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: march · track · court · mark · bank · hand · sharp · wind

  1. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a trace
  2. hand — help
  3. court — of law
  4. track — a path
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. march — the month
  7. march — the month
  8. bank — for money
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. track — a song
  13. hand — in cards
  14. bank — for money
  15. wind — moving air
  16. court — for sport
  17. sharp — clever
  18. wind — moving air
  19. mark — a grade
  20. track — to keep track
  21. march — music
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. bank — of a river
  24. court — of a king

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