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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. key — the most important part
  3. lean — thin
  4. key — for a lock
  5. court — of a king
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. staff — employees
  9. staff — a stick
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. staff — employees
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. bat — the animal
  15. ball — a dance
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. ball — a great time
  18. lean — to bend
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. court — of law
  21. key — in music
  22. court — for sport
  23. mine — for digging
  24. bat — in an idiom

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