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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 120 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: pop · chair · court · bowl · kid · march · race · cell

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. court — of a king
  3. kid — child
  4. pop — to visit
  5. race — humankind
  6. race — a contest
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. kid — to tease
  9. pop — soda
  10. race — the arms race
  11. court — for sport
  12. chair — a leader
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. cell — a phone
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. cell — in biology
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. pop — music
  22. march — music
  23. march — the month
  24. march — the month

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