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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. chair — a leader
  3. season — in sport
  4. season — of the year
  5. prune — to trim
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. court — for sport
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. court — of law
  12. wake — a trail
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. court — of a king
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. prune — to trim

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