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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. land — to come down
  3. bass — the fish
  4. track — a path
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. chair — a leader
  8. track — a song
  9. track — to keep track
  10. land — a country
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. bass — low music
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. land — ground
  16. file — a line of people
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. file — a document
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. file — a tool
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. bass — the instrument

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