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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. swing — to play on
  3. rush — hurry
  4. swing — music
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. chair — a leader
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. last — final
  9. court — for sport
  10. cell — in biology
  11. court — of law
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. rule — a law
  15. rule — government
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. court — of a king
  18. swing — in golf
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. cell — a phone
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. last — finally
  24. last — to go on

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