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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. court — for sport
  3. cold — not warm
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. chair — a leader
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. capital — money
  8. cue — a hint
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. court — of law
  11. court — of a king
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. cue — a signal
  14. press — a publisher
  15. press — newspapers
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. cold — an illness
  20. capital — a city
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. cue — for pool
  24. press — to push

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