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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 120 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. The water is too ________________.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. object — a thing
  4. chair — a leader
  5. file — a document
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. wound — an injury
  8. file — a tool
  9. staff — employees
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. object — an aim
  12. staff — employees
  13. object — to protest
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. wax — to grow
  22. staff — a stick
  23. cold — an illness
  24. file — a line of people

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