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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. chest — of your body
  6. court — for sport
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. roll — a cake
  9. chest — a box
  10. court — of a king
  11. hand — help
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. toast — the most admired
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. chair — a leader
  18. mine — for digging
  19. court — of law
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. hand — in cards
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. toast — a drink to someone
  24. roll — a list

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