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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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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: net · cabinet · deal · stand · band · hand · last · court

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. deal — to handle
  3. hand — in cards
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. band — a ring
  6. net — after costs
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. net — for catching
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. last — finally
  12. hand — help
  13. stand — to bear
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. court — of a king
  16. net — in sport
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. last — to go on
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. court — of law
  21. band — a music group
  22. court — for sport
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. stand — on your feet

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