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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 116 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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. lean — thin
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. scale — in music
  5. field — farmland
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. field — for sport
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. rule — government
  10. chair — a leader
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. field — a subject
  13. current — of water
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. current — electric
  17. plane — a tool
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. rule — a law
  20. current — happening now
  21. mine — for digging
  22. lean — to bend
  23. scale — size or range
  24. chair — to sit on

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