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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. court — of law
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. chair — a leader
  5. court — for sport
  6. file — a tool
  7. roll — a list
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. court — of a king
  10. present — the time now
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. dip — to sink
  13. roll — a cake
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. deal — to handle
  16. present — there
  17. band — a ring
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. file — a document
  20. file — a line of people
  21. band — a music group
  22. present — a gift
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. roll — on a roll

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