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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. key — the most important part
  3. net — for catching
  4. chair — a leader
  5. plane — a tool
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. key — in music
  8. net — after costs
  9. prune — to trim
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. key — for a lock
  12. rule — a law
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. tear — from crying
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. net — in sport
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. rule — government
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. tear — from crying
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. tear — to rip
  24. prune — to trim

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