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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 124 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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  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. chair — a professorship
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. foot — a measure
  4. spell — magic
  5. chair — a leader
  6. land — a country
  7. court — for sport
  8. date — the fruit
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. rash — hasty
  11. land — ground
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. court — of a king
  14. court — of law
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. drill — army training
  19. spell — a short time
  20. land — to come down
  21. drill — a practice
  22. rash — a series
  23. spell — letters
  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