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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 116 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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. firm — a company
  4. sharp — clever
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. file — a tool
  7. last — final
  8. firm — steady
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. game — a match
  11. last — to go on
  12. game — wild animals
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. charge — in control
  16. snap — to click
  17. file — a document
  18. charge — a price
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. charge — electricity
  21. last — finally
  22. file — a line of people
  23. firm — decided
  24. sharp — with an edge

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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