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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. spell — a short time
  4. bulb — for light
  5. wound — an injury
  6. court — of law
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. bulb — for light
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. wound — an injury
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. spell — magic
  14. content — the amount
  15. court — of a king
  16. scale — in music
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. chair — a leader
  19. content — happy
  20. scale — size or range
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. court — for sport
  24. chair — to sit on

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