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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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. bear — the animal
  4. last — finally
  5. court — of law
  6. capital — a city
  7. court — of a king
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. bear — the animal
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. club — for dancing
  12. roll — a list
  13. cold — not warm
  14. last — to go on
  15. club — for golf
  16. capital — money
  17. club — a group
  18. roll — a cake
  19. last — final
  20. chair — a leader
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. cold — an illness

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