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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: rock · ground · dip · swing · sharp · band · cell · court

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. court — of law
  3. rock — music
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. cell — a phone
  6. sharp — clever
  7. ground — the earth
  8. swing — to play on
  9. band — a ring
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. court — for sport
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. dip — to sink
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. band — a music group
  17. court — of a king
  18. swing — music
  19. swing — in golf
  20. ground — a position
  21. ground — crushed
  22. cell — in biology
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. rock — a stone

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