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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 120 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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. snap — to click
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. court — of a king
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. branch — a division
  11. fall — to drop
  12. fall — the season
  13. court — of law
  14. deal — to handle
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. face — to point toward
  18. face — to confront
  19. face — part of the head
  20. fall — to drop
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. mine — for digging
  23. court — for sport
  24. mine — belonging to me

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