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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. My mare is ________________ in color.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. bay — a part of the sea
  3. cold — not warm
  4. court — for sport
  5. spell — letters
  6. court — of a king
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. spell — a short time
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. net — after costs
  14. net — for catching
  15. court — of law
  16. net — in sport
  17. chair — a leader
  18. spell — magic
  19. drill — army training
  20. bay — a horse colour
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. drill — the tool
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. drill — a practice

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