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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. shower — to wash
  3. scale — size or range
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. cell — a phone
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. root — of a plant
  9. root — of a word
  10. shower — rain
  11. court — for sport
  12. fall — the season
  13. scale — in music
  14. swing — in golf
  15. swing — music
  16. court — of law
  17. fall — to drop
  18. swing — to play on
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. court — of a king
  21. chair — a leader
  22. fall — to drop
  23. root — the cause
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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