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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. content — happy
  3. content — the amount
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. spell — magic
  6. capital — money
  7. court — of a king
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. spell — letters
  10. pass — a permit
  11. chair — a leader
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. court — for sport
  14. clip — a video
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. capital — a city
  17. clip — for paper
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. clip — to cut
  22. spell — a short time
  23. pass — to succeed
  24. court — of law

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