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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. clip — to cut
  3. rock — music
  4. cell — a phone
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. clip — for paper
  7. cell — in biology
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. bear — the animal
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. bear — the animal
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. shower — to wash
  15. shower — rain
  16. snap — to click
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. stand — to bear
  20. rock — a stone
  21. clip — a video
  22. chair — a leader
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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