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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. tube — a container
  3. key — for a lock
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. wind — moving air
  7. game — wild animals
  8. season — in sport
  9. tube — the underground
  10. prune — to trim
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. key — the most important part
  13. key — in music
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. mine — for digging
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. season — of the year
  19. game — a match
  20. chair — a leader
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. wind — moving air
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. prune — to trim

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