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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  3. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. march — the month
  6. march — music
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. court — of law
  9. march — the month
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. court — of a king
  12. chip — for betting
  13. chip — to eat
  14. bat — the animal
  15. clip — a video
  16. clip — for paper
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. field — for sport
  19. ruler — a monarch
  20. field — farmland
  21. clip — to cut
  22. court — for sport
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. field — a subject

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