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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. key — for a lock
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. bay — to keep at bay
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. key — in music
  9. roll — a list
  10. file — a tool
  11. roll — a cake
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. saw — the tool
  15. saw — the tool
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. file — a line of people
  18. bay — a horse colour
  19. file — a document
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. key — the most important part
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. fork — in a road

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