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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: coach · court · net · band · rock · branch · bass · cell

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. court — of a king
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. rock — a stone
  5. band — a ring
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. net — in sport
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. branch — a division
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. net — for catching
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. rock — music
  14. cell — a phone
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. court — for sport
  18. bass — low music
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. court — of law
  21. bass — the fish
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. band — a music group
  24. cell — in biology

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