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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. plane — a tool
  3. bore — to tire
  4. mine — for digging
  5. court — for sport
  6. prune — to trim
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. court — of law
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. current — of water
  11. prune — to trim
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. bore — to drill
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. current — happening now
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. court — of a king
  23. current — electric
  24. date — the fruit

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