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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. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. ground — a position
  3. plane — a tool
  4. march — music
  5. ground — the earth
  6. ground — crushed
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. fall — to drop
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. fall — the season
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. march — the month
  14. march — the month
  15. fall — to drop
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. tear — from crying
  21. tear — from crying
  22. shower — rain
  23. shower — to wash
  24. tear — to rip

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