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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. ball — a dance
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. saw — the tool
  9. club — for dancing
  10. degree — from a university
  11. wax — to grow
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. mine — for digging
  15. chair — a leader
  16. club — a group
  17. degree — an amount
  18. saw — the tool
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. club — for golf
  22. degree — temperature
  23. ball — a great time
  24. wax — in the ear

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