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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. mate — a partner
  4. pop — music
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. march — the month
  8. capital — a city
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. snap — to click
  11. capital — money
  12. court — of a king
  13. pop — to visit
  14. court — of law
  15. court — for sport
  16. march — music
  17. chair — a leader
  18. pop — soda
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. mate — to breed
  23. march — the month
  24. mate — a friend

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