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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 124 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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. court — of law
  3. mate — a partner
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. club — for golf
  7. club — a group
  8. wind — moving air
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. mate — a friend
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. mate — to breed
  13. court — for sport
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. club — for dancing
  20. court — of a king
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. shower — rain
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. shower — to wash

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