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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. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. bulb — for light
  3. chair — a leader
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. ground — a position
  6. chest — a box
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. shower — to wash
  9. chest — of your body
  10. bore — to tire
  11. ground — crushed
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. bore — to drill
  14. toast — a drink to someone
  15. bulb — for light
  16. chest — of your body
  17. bulb — of a plant
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. toast — bread
  20. shower — rain
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. ground — the earth
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. perch — the fish

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