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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. march — the month
  3. pop — music
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. chair — a leader
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. court — of a king
  8. cell — a phone
  9. march — music
  10. march — the month
  11. sharp — clever
  12. court — of law
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. stand — to bear
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. mine — for digging
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. cell — in biology
  22. court — for sport
  23. pop — soda
  24. stand — for spectators

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