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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. field — for sport
  4. field — a subject
  5. chair — a leader
  6. club — a group
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. foot — a measure
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. clip — for paper
  14. field — farmland
  15. cell — in biology
  16. clip — to cut
  17. deal — to handle
  18. cell — a phone
  19. stand — to bear
  20. club — for dancing
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. club — for golf
  24. clip — a video

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