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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 assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. fine — all right
  3. pop — soda
  4. mate — a friend
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. land — a country
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. content — happy
  11. mate — a partner
  12. mate — to breed
  13. pop — music
  14. fine — high quality
  15. land — to come down
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. cold — not warm
  19. content — the amount
  20. cold — an illness
  21. land — ground
  22. pop — to visit
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. chair — a leader

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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