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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 116 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. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. spring — the season
  4. file — a tool
  5. file — a line of people
  6. snap — to click
  7. chair — a leader
  8. shower — rain
  9. spring — a coil
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. spring — of water
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. rock — music
  20. rock — a stone
  21. file — a document
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. pound — a weight
  24. shower — to wash

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