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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. Where can I ________________ my mobile?

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. chair — a leader
  3. saw — the tool
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. cue — a hint
  7. clip — to cut
  8. clip — for paper
  9. court — of law
  10. clip — a video
  11. charge — in control
  12. court — for sport
  13. cue — for pool
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. drill — army training
  16. court — of a king
  17. saw — the tool
  18. charge — a price
  19. cue — a signal
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. roll — a list
  22. drill — the tool
  23. drill — a practice
  24. charge — electricity

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