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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. current — of water
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. current — electric
  6. chair — a leader
  7. field — a subject
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. craft — boats
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. field — farmland
  13. court — for sport
  14. club — for dancing
  15. field — for sport
  16. court — of a king
  17. current — happening now
  18. court — of law
  19. club — a group
  20. cold — an illness
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. craft — a skill
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. cold — not warm

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