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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. bound — obliged
  3. court — for sport
  4. swing — to play on
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. ball — a dance
  7. swing — music
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. court — of a king
  10. march — music
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. bound — tied together
  14. swing — in golf
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. ball — a great time
  17. court — of law
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. bound — certain
  21. wake — a trail
  22. march — the month
  23. march — the month
  24. wake — before a funeral

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