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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 120 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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. court — of law
  3. cold — an illness
  4. swing — in golf
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. last — to go on
  7. last — finally
  8. spell — magic
  9. last — final
  10. ground — a position
  11. court — of a king
  12. ground — the earth
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. cold — not warm
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. swing — music
  17. perch — the fish
  18. spell — a short time
  19. court — for sport
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. swing — to play on
  22. chair — a leader
  23. spell — letters
  24. chair — to sit on

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