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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. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. mark — a trace
  3. mark — a grade
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. clip — to cut
  7. file — a line of people
  8. clip — for paper
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. kid — to tease
  11. chair — a leader
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. saw — the tool
  18. kid — child
  19. toast — bread
  20. clip — a video
  21. toast — a drink to someone
  22. saw — the tool
  23. file — a tool
  24. file — a document

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