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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: firm · scale · band · court · spring · rule · race · mouse

  1. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — for a computer
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. band — a music group
  4. firm — decided
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. court — of law
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. band — a ring
  9. race — a contest
  10. spring — a coil
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. firm — steady
  13. rule — government
  14. spring — the season
  15. rule — a law
  16. race — humankind
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. court — of a king
  19. court — for sport
  20. spring — of water
  21. scale — in music
  22. firm — a company
  23. race — the arms race
  24. scale — size or range

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