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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. last — final
  3. chair — a leader
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. last — to go on
  6. last — finally
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. drill — a practice
  9. court — of law
  10. cap — of ice
  11. court — for sport
  12. cap — a hat
  13. saw — the tool
  14. shower — to wash
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. court — of a king
  17. bear — the animal
  18. drill — the tool
  19. saw — the tool
  20. bear — the animal
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. shower — rain
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. cap — a lid

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