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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. court — for sport
  3. court — of law
  4. shower — to wash
  5. ground — crushed
  6. chair — a leader
  7. rush — hurry
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. pop — soda
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. ground — the earth
  14. pop — to visit
  15. ground — a position
  16. court — of a king
  17. bulb — for light
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. shower — rain
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. bulb — for light
  23. pop — music
  24. branch — a division

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