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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: date · court · staff · wound · band · present · chest · net

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. date — the fruit
  3. staff — a stick
  4. net — after costs
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. court — of law
  7. band — a music group
  8. present — the time now
  9. chest — of your body
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. court — for sport
  12. net — in sport
  13. chest — of your body
  14. court — of a king
  15. net — for catching
  16. staff — employees
  17. present — a gift
  18. present — there
  19. staff — employees
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. band — a ring
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. wound — an injury

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