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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. staff — a stick
  4. bear — the animal
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. shower — to wash
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. last — final
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. cold — an illness
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. last — to go on
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. stock — shares
  17. staff — employees
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. staff — employees
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. shower — rain
  22. bear — the animal
  23. stock — goods
  24. chair — a leader

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