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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 · jam · straw · prune · nail · bass · march · face

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. march — the month
  3. face — to confront
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. prune — to trim
  7. jam — a tight spot
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. face — to point toward
  12. jam — in traffic
  13. face — part of the head
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. march — the month
  18. march — music
  19. prune — to trim
  20. bass — low music
  21. bass — the fish
  22. jam — to spread on bread
  23. court — of a king
  24. court — of law

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