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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. last — final
  3. vault — a safe
  4. file — a line of people
  5. can — a tin
  6. can — a tin
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. can — to be able to
  9. drill — the tool
  10. last — to go on
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. drill — a practice
  16. file — a document
  17. drill — army training
  18. plane — a tool
  19. chair — a leader
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. last — finally
  24. file — a tool

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