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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. land — a country
  3. shower — to wash
  4. chair — a leader
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. rock — music
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. drill — the tool
  10. drill — army training
  11. cap — a lid
  12. rest — a break
  13. land — ground
  14. land — to come down
  15. rest — what's left
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. cap — a hat
  18. drill — a practice
  19. rock — a stone
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. shower — rain
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. rest — what's left

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