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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. game — a match
  3. net — for catching
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. mug — a face
  7. net — in sport
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. net — after costs
  10. chair — a leader
  11. cell — in biology
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. march — the month
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. mug — a cup
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. chip — to eat
  20. chip — for betting
  21. mug — to rob
  22. march — music
  23. cell — a phone
  24. game — wild animals

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