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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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. chair — a leader
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. spell — a short time
  5. mate — a friend
  6. content — happy
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. mate — a partner
  9. land — a country
  10. spell — letters
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. band — a ring
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. land — to come down
  15. mate — to breed
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. content — the amount
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. land — ground
  21. spell — magic
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. arm — part of the body

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