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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. march — the month
  3. file — a line of people
  4. file — a tool
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. chair — a leader
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. file — a document
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. march — music
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. march — the month
  15. stem — to come from
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. straw — dry grass

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