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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 · stick · mouse · band · hand · row · march · sharp

  1. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. hand — in cards
  4. sharp — clever
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. band — a music group
  7. row — a line
  8. court — of a king
  9. march — the month
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. hand — help
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. march — music
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. court — of law
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. band — a ring
  21. row — to paddle
  22. court — for sport
  23. march — the month
  24. sharp — with an edge

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