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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 spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. craft — a skill
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. craft — boats
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. shower — to wash
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. tube — the underground
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. net — in sport
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. tube — a container
  18. shower — rain
  19. chair — a leader
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. pound — a weight
  22. net — after costs
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. net — for catching

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