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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. When will it ________________ you to start?
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. cell — in biology
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. suit — in cards
  5. tear — from crying
  6. tear — to rip
  7. cell — a phone
  8. cue — a signal
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. suit — to fit
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. cue — a hint
  13. suit — clothes
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. pound — a weight
  16. drill — army training
  17. chair — a leader
  18. drill — the tool
  19. drill — a practice
  20. tear — from crying
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. band — a ring
  23. cue — for pool
  24. band — a music group

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