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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. march — music
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. march — the month
  5. march — the month
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. last — to go on
  11. file — a line of people
  12. saw — the tool
  13. snap — to click
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. file — a tool
  17. chip — to eat
  18. chair — a leader
  19. file — a document
  20. last — final
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. saw — the tool
  23. last — finally
  24. chip — for betting

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