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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. track — a song
  3. rest — what's left
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. cold — not warm
  6. degree — temperature
  7. rest — what's left
  8. chair — a leader
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. track — to keep track
  12. last — final
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. last — to go on
  16. rest — a break
  17. degree — from a university
  18. track — a path
  19. degree — an amount
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. last — finally
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. cold — an illness
  24. leaves — of a tree

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