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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. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — a stone
  2. chair — a leader
  3. rush — hurry
  4. spring — a coil
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. game — a match
  9. vault — a safe
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. march — music
  12. spring — the season
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. spring — of water
  16. march — the month
  17. wind — moving air
  18. rock — music
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. march — the month
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. game — wild animals
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. wind — moving air

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