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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Where did you ________________ them?
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. court — of a king
  3. tube — a container
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. court — for sport
  6. tube — the underground
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. chair — a leader
  9. perch — the fish
  10. mug — a cup
  11. cell — a phone
  12. mug — to rob
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. wound — an injury
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. land — to come down
  18. mug — a face
  19. cell — in biology
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. land — ground
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. land — a country
  24. court — of law

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