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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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. spell — magic
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. court — for sport
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. file — a tool
  9. file — a line of people
  10. spell — letters
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. spell — a short time
  13. court — of a king
  14. pop — soda
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. chair — a leader
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. court — of law
  20. content — the amount
  21. pop — to visit
  22. content — happy
  23. file — a document
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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