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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 · mark · kid · march · firm · pop · pound · cold

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  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. court — of a king
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. firm — a company
  4. cold — not warm
  5. pop — soda
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. pop — music
  8. march — music
  9. kid — to tease
  10. march — the month
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. mark — a grade
  13. firm — decided
  14. pop — to visit
  15. court — for sport
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. court — of law
  18. kid — child
  19. firm — steady
  20. march — the month
  21. mark — a trace
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. pound — a weight
  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