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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. field — farmland
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. field — a subject
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. field — for sport
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. chair — a leader
  11. court — for sport
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. board — to get on
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. court — of a king
  16. board — a committee
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. sharp — clever
  19. court — of law
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. rock — a stone
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. straw — a straw man

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