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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. There's no middle ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. ground — a position
  3. last — finally
  4. content — the amount
  5. last — to go on
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. chest — a box
  8. last — final
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. content — happy
  11. ground — crushed
  12. plane — a tool
  13. chest — of your body
  14. chest — of your body
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. cell — in biology
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. chair — a leader
  22. cell — a phone
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. ground — the earth

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