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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. march — music
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. march — the month
  8. content — happy
  9. key — the most important part
  10. content — the amount
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. spell — letters
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. row — a line
  16. march — the month
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. spell — a short time
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. key — for a lock
  22. key — in music
  23. chair — a leader
  24. row — to paddle

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