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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. track — a path
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. last — to go on
  5. chest — a box
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. drill — a practice
  8. land — a country
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. pound — a weight
  11. drill — army training
  12. last — finally
  13. land — ground
  14. chest — of your body
  15. track — to keep track
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. chest — of your body
  18. track — a song
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. last — final
  21. land — to come down
  22. drill — the tool
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. sharp — clever

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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