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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. spell — magic
  3. spell — letters
  4. game — a match
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. chair — a leader
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. net — after costs
  13. ground — the earth
  14. game — wild animals
  15. ground — crushed
  16. lie — to recline
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. ground — a position
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. net — for catching
  21. net — in sport
  22. spell — a short time
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. patient — a sick person

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