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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 120 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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. court — of law
  3. key — for a lock
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. key — in music
  6. clip — for paper
  7. land — ground
  8. key — the most important part
  9. mine — for digging
  10. court — for sport
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. cue — for pool
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. land — a country
  16. cue — a hint
  17. clip — to cut
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. cue — a signal
  20. clip — a video
  21. pit — in a race
  22. court — of a king
  23. pit — a hole
  24. land — to come down

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