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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. rash — a series
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. court — of a king
  5. fall — to drop
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. toast — bread
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. march — music
  10. band — a ring
  11. pop — soda
  12. fall — to drop
  13. pop — music
  14. fall — the season
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. court — for sport
  17. cold — not warm
  18. band — a music group
  19. pop — to visit
  20. rash — hasty
  21. toast — the most admired
  22. march — the month
  23. cold — an illness
  24. march — the month

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