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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. cue — for pool
  4. lean — thin
  5. court — for sport
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. court — of a king
  10. lean — to bend
  11. land — a country
  12. cue — a signal
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. plane — a tool
  15. land — to come down
  16. land — ground
  17. court — of law
  18. cue — a hint
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. chair — a leader
  21. shower — rain
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. shower — to wash
  24. plane — an aircraft

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