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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: squash · court · content · roll · ball · march · band · cold

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. march — the month
  3. court — for sport
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. march — music
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. squash — to crush
  8. cold — not warm
  9. court — of law
  10. content — the amount
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. roll — a list
  13. content — happy
  14. march — the month
  15. ball — a dance
  16. cold — an illness
  17. court — of a king
  18. band — a music group
  19. roll — a cake
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. squash — the sport
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. band — a ring

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