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

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. club — for dancing
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. club — for golf
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. court — of law
  7. court — of a king
  8. pit — a hole
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. land — ground
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. march — the month
  14. club — a group
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. bat — the animal
  17. court — for sport
  18. pit — in a race
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. march — the month
  21. plane — a tool
  22. march — music
  23. land — a country
  24. coach — a trainer

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