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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. season — of the year
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. spring — of water
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. rest — what's left
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. band — a ring
  10. rest — a break
  11. chair — a leader
  12. rest — what's left
  13. bark — to shout
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. season — in sport
  18. spring — the season
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. row — to paddle
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. row — a line
  24. band — a music group

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