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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 120 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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. key — for a lock
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. court — of a king
  6. key — the most important part
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. key — in music
  14. cold — an illness
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. cold — not warm
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. march — the month
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. march — the month
  22. chair — a leader
  23. court — of law
  24. march — 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