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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 · race · branch · spell · charge · pitcher · hand · band

  1. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. charge — electricity
  3. hand — help
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. race — humankind
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. court — of a king
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. band — a music group
  12. hand — in cards
  13. branch — a division
  14. race — a contest
  15. spell — a short time
  16. spell — magic
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. charge — in control
  19. spell — letters
  20. band — a ring
  21. court — for sport
  22. race — the arms race
  23. court — of law
  24. branch — of a tree

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