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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 · march · trunk

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

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. race — the arms race
  3. swing — music
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. chair — a leader
  6. swing — to play on
  7. race — a contest
  8. last — final
  9. swing — in golf
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. last — to go on
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. court — of law
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. court — of a king
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. march — music
  20. last — finally
  21. march — the month
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. race — humankind
  24. 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