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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 120 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 light ________________ burned out.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. bulb — for light
  3. spell — magic
  4. tear — from crying
  5. chair — a leader
  6. row — a line
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. row — to paddle
  10. court — for sport
  11. bass — low music
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. tear — from crying
  15. tear — to rip
  16. spell — letters
  17. spell — a short time
  18. court — of law
  19. court — of a king
  20. bulb — for light
  21. bass — the fish
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. content — happy
  24. content — the amount

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