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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: trunk · racket · last · ball · bass · hand · court · face

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. last — to go on
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. hand — in cards
  6. ball — a dance
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. court — for sport
  9. court — of law
  10. bass — low music
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. hand — help
  14. bass — the fish
  15. face — to confront
  16. court — of a king
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. last — finally
  19. ball — a great time
  20. face — to point toward
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. face — part of the head

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