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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 light ________________ burned out.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. clip — to cut
  3. bulb — for light
  4. chair — a leader
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. rest — what's left
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. swing — music
  10. rest — a break
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. scale — in music
  13. clip — a video
  14. court — of law
  15. cold — an illness
  16. court — of a king
  17. cold — not warm
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. swing — to play on
  20. clip — for paper
  21. swing — in golf
  22. rest — what's left
  23. court — for sport
  24. scale — size or range

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