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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. spell — letters
  4. swing — music
  5. pit — in a race
  6. swing — in golf
  7. tube — the underground
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. pit — a hole
  11. court — for sport
  12. spell — magic
  13. court — of law
  14. tube — a container
  15. court — of a king
  16. spell — a short time
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. bat — the animal
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. chair — a leader
  24. bat — in an idiom

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