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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. scale — size or range
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. court — of a king
  8. game — wild animals
  9. rule — government
  10. sharp — clever
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. court — for sport
  13. wound — an injury
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. court — of law
  18. scale — in music
  19. game — a match
  20. wound — an injury
  21. prune — to trim
  22. rule — a law
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. prune — to trim

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