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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. field — farmland
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. charge — electricity
  5. game — wild animals
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. pop — to visit
  8. charge — in control
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. ball — a great time
  11. field — for sport
  12. sharp — clever
  13. ball — a dance
  14. face — to confront
  15. pop — music
  16. pop — soda
  17. game — a match
  18. charge — a price
  19. face — part of the head
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. field — a subject
  22. chair — a leader
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. face — to point toward

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