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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. mate — to breed
  3. chair — a leader
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. court — for sport
  6. key — the most important part
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. court — of a king
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. sharp — clever
  13. court — of law
  14. mate — a partner
  15. tear — from crying
  16. spring — a coil
  17. key — for a lock
  18. key — in music
  19. spring — of water
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. tear — from crying
  22. mate — a friend
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. spring — the season

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