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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 120 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. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. bound — tied together
  3. file — a tool
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. track — to keep track
  6. chair — a leader
  7. cold — not warm
  8. track — a path
  9. rest — a break
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. pop — soda
  12. rest — what's left
  13. rest — what's left
  14. cold — an illness
  15. rush — hurry
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. track — a song
  18. file — a line of people
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. bound — obliged
  21. bound — certain
  22. file — a document
  23. pop — to visit
  24. pop — music

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