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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. roll — a cake
  3. date — the fruit
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. bound — certain
  6. march — the month
  7. hand — help
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. chair — a leader
  10. march — the month
  11. last — final
  12. saw — the tool
  13. march — music
  14. bound — tied together
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. last — finally
  18. bound — obliged
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. saw — the tool
  22. roll — a list
  23. last — to go on
  24. hand — in cards

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