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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: chair · cap · ground · prune · band · chest · court · date

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. ground — the earth
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chest — of your body
  5. prune — to trim
  6. court — for sport
  7. band — a ring
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. chair — a leader
  10. court — of law
  11. date — the fruit
  12. chest — a box
  13. cap — a lid
  14. cap — of ice
  15. prune — to trim
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. court — of a king
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. cap — a hat
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. ground — a position
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. ground — crushed
  24. date — on the calendar

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