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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. When will it ________________ you to start?
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. ball — a dance
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. saw — the tool
  6. suit — to fit
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. suit — in cards
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. perch — the fish
  13. cold — an illness
  14. game — wild animals
  15. suit — clothes
  16. game — a match
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. saw — the tool
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. ball — a great time
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. cold — not warm
  24. pitcher — a jug

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