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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. court — of a king
  4. hand — help
  5. hand — in cards
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. court — of law
  10. court — for sport
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. cold — not warm
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. cold — an illness
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. bulb — for light
  23. bark — to shout
  24. bulb — for light

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