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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. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. bound — obliged
  3. rest — what's left
  4. court — of law
  5. bound — certain
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. rest — what's left
  8. spring — a coil
  9. hand — help
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. spring — the season
  14. wind — moving air
  15. court — for sport
  16. bound — tied together
  17. hand — in cards
  18. spring — of water
  19. wind — moving air
  20. court — of a king
  21. rest — a break
  22. chair — a leader
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. mine — for digging

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