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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. This piece is in a major ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. game — a match
  4. fall — to drop
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. chair — a leader
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. key — the most important part
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. fall — the season
  11. clip — to cut
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. plane — a tool
  14. fall — to drop
  15. sharp — clever
  16. wake — a trail
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. game — wild animals
  19. clip — for paper
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. key — for a lock
  23. clip — a video
  24. sharp — with an edge

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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