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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. march — the month
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. wound — an injury
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. march — music
  8. march — the month
  9. wound — an injury
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. pit — in a race
  12. fall — to drop
  13. pit — a hole
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. fall — the season
  17. capital — money
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. capital — a city
  20. stem — to come from
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. fall — to drop
  23. shower — rain
  24. shower — to wash

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