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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. hand — help
  4. bass — low music
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. chair — a leader
  10. club — a group
  11. hand — in cards
  12. bass — the fish
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. wind — moving air
  15. spell — letters
  16. cold — an illness
  17. club — for golf
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. spell — a short time
  20. wind — moving air
  21. club — for dancing
  22. cold — not warm
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. spell — magic

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