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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. last — to go on
  3. season — in sport
  4. file — a document
  5. court — of a king
  6. file — a tool
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. mine — for digging
  9. object — a thing
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. object — to protest
  12. season — of the year
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. court — for sport
  18. last — finally
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. file — a line of people
  21. object — an aim
  22. court — of law
  23. chair — a leader
  24. mine — an explosive

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