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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. prune — to trim
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. shower — rain
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. shower — to wash
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. spring — of water
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. prune — to trim
  17. spring — a coil
  18. bass — the fish
  19. game — wild animals
  20. spring — the season
  21. bass — low music
  22. rock — a stone
  23. rock — music
  24. game — a match

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