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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. court — of law
  3. chair — a leader
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. court — for sport
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. bulb — for light
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. field — for sport
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. field — farmland
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. court — of a king
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. branch — a division
  20. field — a subject
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. pound — a weight
  23. bulb — for light
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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