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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. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — to handle
  2. last — final
  3. last — finally
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. file — a document
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. kid — to tease
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. dip — to sink
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. bass — low music
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. bass — the fish
  17. last — to go on
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. kid — child
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. chair — a leader
  22. file — a tool
  23. file — a line of people
  24. leaves — to go away

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