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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. spring — the season
  3. bound — tied together
  4. present — a gift
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. court — for sport
  8. race — humankind
  9. race — a contest
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. land — to come down
  12. land — a country
  13. bound — obliged
  14. bound — certain
  15. spring — a coil
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. present — there
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. spring — of water
  20. land — ground
  21. court — of law
  22. race — the arms race
  23. court — of a king
  24. chair — a leader

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