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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. We're on a ________________ here.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — on a roll
  2. scale — size or range
  3. roll — a cake
  4. rule — government
  5. scale — in music
  6. chair — a leader
  7. court — for sport
  8. squash — the sport
  9. wind — moving air
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. court — of law
  12. land — ground
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. land — a country
  16. wind — moving air
  17. roll — a list
  18. court — of a king
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. land — to come down
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. squash — to crush
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. rule — a 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