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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. court — for sport
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. court — of law
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. court — of a king
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. season — of the year
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. row — to paddle
  15. deal — to handle
  16. season — in sport
  17. row — a line
  18. pitch — completely

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