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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. season — of the year
  3. fall — to drop
  4. game — a match
  5. pop — soda
  6. pop — to visit
  7. season — in sport
  8. kid — child
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. chair — a leader
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. pop — music
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. spell — a short time
  16. pound — a weight
  17. spell — magic
  18. game — wild animals
  19. kid — to tease
  20. spell — letters
  21. fall — the season
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. fall — to drop

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