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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. land — ground
  3. scale — in music
  4. march — music
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. land — a country
  7. court — of a king
  8. chair — a leader
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. capital — money
  11. march — the month
  12. scale — size or range
  13. last — final
  14. last — to go on
  15. land — to come down
  16. court — for sport
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. lie — to recline
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. march — the month
  23. capital — a city
  24. last — finally

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