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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: court · race · swing · chair · last · mouse

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. court — of law
  4. race — a contest
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. court — of a king
  10. race — humankind
  11. chair — a leader
  12. swing — in golf
  13. last — to go on
  14. swing — music
  15. last — final
  16. last — finally
  17. race — the arms race
  18. court — for sport

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