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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: court · saw · ball · hand · game · bore · pitcher · band

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. saw — the tool
  3. ball — a dance
  4. hand — help
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. court — of a king
  8. ball — a great time
  9. game — a match
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. court — of law
  12. saw — the tool
  13. band — a ring
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. hand — in cards
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. band — a music group
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. game — wild animals
  20. bore — to tire
  21. bore — to drill
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. court — for sport

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