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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 ball is in your ________________.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. court — for sport
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. spring — a coil
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. court — of law
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. chair — a leader
  12. bass — the fish
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. bass — low music
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. spring — of water
  17. pop — to visit
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. pop — soda
  20. pop — music
  21. court — of a king
  22. lie — to recline
  23. spring — the season
  24. nail — for a hammer

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