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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. snap — to click
  6. lean — to bend
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. file — a line of people
  9. club — for golf
  10. court — of a king
  11. perch — the fish
  12. bass — low music
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. file — a tool
  17. court — of law
  18. chair — a leader
  19. lean — thin
  20. club — a group
  21. file — a document
  22. court — for sport
  23. bass — the fish
  24. perch — for a bird

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