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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 120 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 · spring · row · band · bass · pitcher · capital · firm

  1. He is an ace ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. court — of a king
  4. row — to paddle
  5. firm — decided
  6. band — a ring
  7. spring — a coil
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. spring — of water
  10. spring — the season
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. firm — steady
  13. court — for sport
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. capital — money
  16. bass — low music
  17. firm — a company
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. bass — the fish
  20. court — of law
  21. capital — a city
  22. band — a music group
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. row — a line

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