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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 the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. rest — a break
  3. chair — a leader
  4. current — electric
  5. drill — a practice
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. court — of a king
  10. rest — what's left
  11. file — a tool
  12. drill — army training
  13. court — for sport
  14. file — a document
  15. court — of law
  16. drill — the tool
  17. current — happening now
  18. current — of water
  19. file — a line of people
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. sharp — clever
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. rest — what's left

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