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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.

Make a worksheet

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
468
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: march · chair · track · degree · mug · drill · court · cold

  1. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. march — the month
  4. track — a path
  5. mug — to rob
  6. drill — army training
  7. mug — a face
  8. court — of law
  9. track — to keep track
  10. march — the month
  11. cold — an illness
  12. drill — a practice
  13. drill — the tool
  14. degree — an amount
  15. court — for sport
  16. cold — not warm
  17. chair — a leader
  18. mug — a cup
  19. degree — from a university
  20. degree — temperature
  21. march — music
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. court — of a king

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