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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. shower — to wash
  3. chair — a leader
  4. present — there
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. swing — music
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. present — a gift
  9. present — the time now
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. shower — rain
  13. spell — magic
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. spell — letters
  16. wake — a trail
  17. swing — to play on
  18. fork — in a road
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. land — ground
  21. spell — a short time
  22. land — to come down
  23. land — a country
  24. swing — in golf

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