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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. The water is too ________________.
  3. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. cold — not warm
  3. safe — out of danger
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. safe — a strongbox
  6. court — for sport
  7. bore — to tire
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. court — of law
  11. court — of a king
  12. chair — a leader
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. cold — an illness
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. dip — to sink
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. pit — a hole
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. pit — in a race
  22. bore — to drill
  23. perch — the fish
  24. perch — for a bird

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