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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. tear — from crying
  4. tear — to rip
  5. tear — from crying
  6. drill — army training
  7. hand — help
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. drill — the tool
  10. fork — in a road
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. hand — in cards
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. cold — not warm
  15. drill — a practice
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. stem — to come from
  22. cold — an illness
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. fork — a garden tool

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