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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 120 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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  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. can — to be able to
  2. court — of a king
  3. court — of law
  4. bound — tied together
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. swing — in golf
  7. court — for sport
  8. field — a subject
  9. bound — obliged
  10. field — farmland
  11. march — music
  12. field — for sport
  13. key — in music
  14. bound — certain
  15. march — the month
  16. can — a tin
  17. swing — to play on
  18. march — the month
  19. key — for a lock
  20. key — the most important part
  21. cold — not warm
  22. swing — music
  23. can — a tin
  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