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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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. swing — in golf
  4. mark — a trace
  5. mine — for digging
  6. file — a tool
  7. swing — music
  8. file — a document
  9. tear — from crying
  10. file — a line of people
  11. court — of a king
  12. mark — a grade
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. cold — not warm
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. tear — to rip
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. swing — to play on
  21. court — for sport
  22. tear — from crying
  23. court — of law
  24. chair — a leader

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