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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 116 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 ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. court — of law
  3. wind — moving air
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. court — for sport
  6. kid — to tease
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. cold — not warm
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. root — the cause
  12. root — of a plant
  13. bulb — for light
  14. bulb — for light
  15. root — of a word
  16. wind — moving air
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. kid — child
  19. chair — a leader
  20. cold — an illness
  21. court — of a king
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. bulb — of a plant

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