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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. chair — a leader
  3. game — a match
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. cell — in biology
  6. pitch — completely
  7. cell — a phone
  8. pop — to visit
  9. pop — music
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. ball — a great time
  14. mine — for digging
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. row — to paddle
  19. row — a line
  20. pop — soda
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. game — wild animals
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. chair — a professorship

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