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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 120 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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. rush — hurry
  4. key — for a lock
  5. scale — in music
  6. court — of law
  7. scale — size or range
  8. court — for sport
  9. bear — the animal
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — an illness
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. court — of a king
  14. chair — a leader
  15. key — in music
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. key — the most important part
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. bear — the animal
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. kick — in football
  24. rush — a thrill

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