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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. The water is too ________________.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. cold — not warm
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. staff — a stick
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. track — a path
  8. cold — an illness
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. track — to keep track
  13. toast — a drink to someone
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. bark — to shout
  16. plane — a tool
  17. pit — in a race
  18. staff — employees
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. staff — employees
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. toast — bread
  23. pit — a hole
  24. track — a song

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