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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. bound — obliged
  3. fall — to drop
  4. craft — a skill
  5. drill — army training
  6. staff — employees
  7. chair — a leader
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. fall — to drop
  10. bat — the animal
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. fall — the season
  13. bound — tied together
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. staff — a stick
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. bound — certain
  19. staff — employees
  20. game — a match
  21. drill — the tool
  22. game — wild animals
  23. craft — boats
  24. drill — a practice

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