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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: drill · court · chair · firm · last · face · club · file

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. court — of law
  3. club — for golf
  4. face — to confront
  5. chair — a leader
  6. firm — a company
  7. last — to go on
  8. file — a line of people
  9. last — final
  10. club — for dancing
  11. drill — army training
  12. file — a document
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. last — finally
  15. court — for sport
  16. firm — steady
  17. face — part of the head
  18. file — a tool
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. firm — decided
  21. face — to point toward
  22. drill — a practice
  23. club — a group
  24. drill — the tool

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