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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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. board — to get on
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. court — of law
  6. club — for dancing
  7. club — for golf
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. court — for sport
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. capital — a city
  12. chair — a leader
  13. capital — money
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. club — a group
  16. board — a committee
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. perch — the fish
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. stem — to come from
  23. court — of a king
  24. pitch — completely

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