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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. stand — for spectators
  3. kid — child
  4. cold — an illness
  5. court — of law
  6. race — a contest
  7. kid — to tease
  8. band — a music group
  9. race — humankind
  10. race — the arms race
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. track — to keep track
  13. stand — to bear
  14. band — a ring
  15. court — of a king
  16. court — for sport
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. chair — a leader
  20. track — a path
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. cold — not warm
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. track — a song

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