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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 116 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: band · mug · last · saw · rash · degree · game · court

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. band — a ring
  3. last — finally
  4. court — for sport
  5. last — final
  6. mug — to rob
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. last — to go on
  10. band — a music group
  11. degree — temperature
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. rash — hasty
  14. rash — a series
  15. court — of law
  16. game — wild animals
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. mug — a cup
  19. degree — an amount
  20. saw — the tool
  21. degree — from a university
  22. saw — the tool
  23. mug — a face
  24. game — a match

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