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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. bay — a part of the sea
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. plane — a tool
  7. mate — a friend
  8. spring — of water
  9. tear — from crying
  10. spring — the season
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. hand — help
  13. mate — a partner
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. tear — to rip
  16. tear — from crying
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. chair — a leader
  19. mate — to breed
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. hand — in cards
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. spring — a coil

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