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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. track — to keep track
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. cold — an illness
  6. chair — a leader
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. bore — to tire
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. cold — not warm
  12. track — a song
  13. march — music
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. track — a path
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. march — the month
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. march — the month
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. bore — to drill
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. leaves — of a tree

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