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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. When will it ________________ you to start?
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. spell — letters
  5. pit — in a race
  6. mine — for digging
  7. cell — in biology
  8. spell — magic
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. content — happy
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. suit — in cards
  13. pit — a hole
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. content — the amount
  16. cell — a phone
  17. chair — a leader
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. spell — a short time
  20. suit — to fit
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. suit — clothes
  23. wax — to grow
  24. content — videos and posts

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