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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: court · band · row · object · cue · cold · chair · racket

  1. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. cold — an illness
  3. row — to paddle
  4. object — an aim
  5. band — a music group
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. chair — a leader
  8. court — of a king
  9. band — a ring
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. cold — not warm
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. row — a line
  16. object — a thing
  17. cue — a hint
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. court — for sport
  21. cue — for pool
  22. cue — a signal
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. court — of law

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