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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. swing — to play on
  3. fine — high quality
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. rest — what's left
  6. march — the month
  7. swing — in golf
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. fine — all right
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. pop — soda
  13. march — the month
  14. cold — an illness
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. pop — to visit
  17. pop — music
  18. rest — what's left
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. rest — a break
  21. march — music
  22. cold — not warm
  23. chair — a leader
  24. swing — music

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