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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. mine — for digging
  4. tear — to rip
  5. key — for a lock
  6. chair — a leader
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. shower — rain
  9. key — the most important part
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. clip — a video
  12. tear — from crying
  13. clip — to cut
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. key — in music
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. clip — for paper
  22. tear — from crying
  23. shower — to wash
  24. chair — to sit on

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