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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. last — to go on
  3. club — for dancing
  4. mark — a grade
  5. game — a match
  6. rest — what's left
  7. game — wild animals
  8. file — a line of people
  9. club — for golf
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. rest — a break
  13. mark — a trace
  14. ball — a dance
  15. file — a document
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. chair — a leader
  18. rest — what's left
  19. last — final
  20. last — finally
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. club — a group
  23. ball — a great time
  24. file — a 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