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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.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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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: toast · bat · ball · lean · chair · court · band · march

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. march — the month
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. band — a ring
  6. lean — to bend
  7. ball — a great time
  8. court — of law
  9. lean — thin
  10. toast — the most admired
  11. march — the month
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. band — a music group
  17. march — music
  18. toast — bread
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. court — of a king
  21. bat — the animal
  22. ball — a dance
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. chair — a leader

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