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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: rule · last · cold · chair · ball · drill · toast · court

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. last — finally
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. chair — a leader
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. rule — government
  9. court — of law
  10. rule — a law
  11. cold — an illness
  12. court — for sport
  13. toast — bread
  14. court — of a king
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. drill — the tool
  17. toast — a drink to someone
  18. drill — army training
  19. drill — a practice
  20. ball — a great time
  21. ball — a dance
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. last — to go on
  24. last — final

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