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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. pop — to visit
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. spring — a coil
  5. content — happy
  6. pop — soda
  7. pop — music
  8. fine — high quality
  9. prune — to trim
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. prune — to trim
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. bass — low music
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. spring — of water
  19. spring — the season
  20. fine — all right
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. bass — the fish
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. content — the amount

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