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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. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. cue — a signal
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. drill — army training
  5. chair — a leader
  6. spell — letters
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. saw — the tool
  9. mine — for digging
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. cue — for pool
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. drill — the tool
  16. cue — a hint
  17. drill — a practice
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. spell — a short time
  20. saw — the tool
  21. rule — government
  22. rule — a law
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. spell — magic

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