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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. Would you like some apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. file — a document
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. clip — to cut
  7. rest — a break
  8. clip — for paper
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. pound — a weight
  11. file — a tool
  12. file — a line of people
  13. rest — what's left
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. rest — what's left
  16. shower — rain
  17. content — the amount
  18. shower — to wash
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. clip — a video
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. jam — in traffic
  23. content — happy
  24. jam — to spread on bread

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