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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. lean — to bend
  3. cap — a hat
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. scale — in music
  6. shower — to wash
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. cap — a lid
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. lean — thin
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. shower — rain
  15. date — the fruit
  16. perch — the fish
  17. scale — size or range
  18. cap — of ice
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. chair — a leader
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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