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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: last · key · shower · mine · arm · fan · band · court

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. band — a ring
  3. mine — for digging
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. key — in music
  6. key — the most important part
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. key — for a lock
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. court — of law
  11. last — final
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. band — a music group
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. shower — rain
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. last — to go on
  20. court — of a king
  21. shower — to wash
  22. last — finally
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. mine — an explosive

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