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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: band · court · clip · bat · racket · spring · fan · cabinet

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. band — a ring
  4. bat — the animal
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. court — of a king
  9. spring — the season
  10. spring — of water
  11. clip — to cut
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. court — for sport
  15. court — of law
  16. clip — a video
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. band — a music group
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. spring — a coil
  23. clip — for paper
  24. cabinet — ministers

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