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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. track — a path
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. capital — money
  6. court — for sport
  7. court — of law
  8. game — a match
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. chair — a leader
  13. track — to keep track
  14. toast — bread
  15. scale — in music
  16. court — of a king
  17. game — wild animals
  18. capital — a city
  19. toast — the most admired
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. track — a song
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. hide — animal skin

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