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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. swing — to play on
  3. march — the month
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. last — finally
  7. march — music
  8. last — final
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. march — the month
  14. swing — music
  15. court — of law
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. swing — in golf
  18. chair — a leader
  19. court — for sport
  20. court — of a king
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. perch — the fish
  24. temple — a place of worship

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