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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 124 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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. prune — to trim
  3. pass — to spend time
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. prune — to trim
  6. court — for sport
  7. rest — what's left
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. rest — a break
  10. chair — a leader
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. court — of a king
  13. rest — what's left
  14. cold — an illness
  15. shower — to wash
  16. shower — rain
  17. court — of law
  18. current — electric
  19. pass — to succeed
  20. pass — a permit
  21. cold — not warm
  22. current — of water
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. current — happening now

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