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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. wake — a trail
  5. chair — a leader
  6. court — of a king
  7. season — of the year
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. court — of law
  10. swing — to play on
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. swing — in golf
  14. branch — a division
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. season — in sport
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. swing — music
  20. plane — a tool
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. cold — not warm
  23. court — for sport
  24. plane — in geometry

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