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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. court — of a king
  3. march — music
  4. court — of law
  5. drill — a practice
  6. chest — of your body
  7. court — for sport
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. march — the month
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. drill — the tool
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. march — the month
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. plane — a tool
  19. rock — music
  20. rock — a stone
  21. date — the fruit
  22. chest — a box
  23. chest — of your body
  24. drill — army training

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