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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. chair — a leader
  3. spell — magic
  4. spell — a short time
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. season — of the year
  7. cell — a phone
  8. spring — a coil
  9. chip — to eat
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. spring — the season
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. season — in sport
  14. band — a ring
  15. chip — for betting
  16. cell — in biology
  17. perch — the fish
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. band — a music group
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. spell — letters
  24. spring — of water

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