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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. That must've been a ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. chair — a leader
  4. perch — the fish
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. clip — to cut
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. clip — a video
  12. plane — a tool
  13. lean — thin
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. sharp — clever
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. clip — for paper
  21. rush — hurry
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. lean — to bend
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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