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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 a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. march — the month
  4. march — music
  5. cold — an illness
  6. band — a music group
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. rock — a stone
  11. court — of law
  12. band — a ring
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. chair — a leader
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. scale — size or range
  17. dip — to sink
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. scale — in music
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. march — the month
  22. court — for sport
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. rock — music

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