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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 ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. chest — of your body
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. club — for dancing
  6. court — of a king
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. court — for sport
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. wound — an injury
  12. dip — to sink
  13. club — for golf
  14. mark — a grade
  15. root — the cause
  16. chair — a leader
  17. wound — an injury
  18. root — of a plant
  19. root — of a word
  20. mark — a trace
  21. chest — a box
  22. chest — of your body
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. club — a group

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