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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. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. cold — not warm
  4. court — of a king
  5. court — for sport
  6. row — to paddle
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. chair — a leader
  9. current — electric
  10. current — of water
  11. saw — the tool
  12. row — a line
  13. last — to go on
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. field — for sport
  16. last — finally
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. current — happening now
  20. field — a subject
  21. saw — the tool
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. field — farmland
  24. last — final

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