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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. ground — the earth
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. clip — to cut
  6. cap — a lid
  7. clip — a video
  8. clip — for paper
  9. chest — of your body
  10. cap — of ice
  11. lean — thin
  12. cap — a hat
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. ground — crushed
  15. ruler — a monarch
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. chest — a box
  18. lean — to bend
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. ground — a position
  22. chest — of your body
  23. fork — in a road
  24. chair — a professorship

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