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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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. mug — a cup
  4. file — a tool
  5. mug — to rob
  6. spring — the season
  7. object — an aim
  8. object — to protest
  9. shower — rain
  10. shower — to wash
  11. file — a document
  12. court — for sport
  13. spring — of water
  14. court — of law
  15. chair — a leader
  16. spring — a coil
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. file — a line of people
  19. season — in sport
  20. season — of the year
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. object — a thing
  23. court — of a king
  24. chair — a professorship

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