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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. race — humankind
  5. spell — a short time
  6. craft — a skill
  7. last — final
  8. content — happy
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. race — the arms race
  11. swing — in golf
  12. chair — a leader
  13. last — finally
  14. scale — size or range
  15. spell — letters
  16. scale — in music
  17. swing — music
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. last — to go on
  20. content — the amount
  21. race — a contest
  22. spell — magic
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. craft — boats

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