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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. fall — the season
  3. last — finally
  4. fall — to drop
  5. object — an aim
  6. last — final
  7. wind — moving air
  8. fall — to drop
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. season — of the year
  12. season — in sport
  13. object — a thing
  14. content — happy
  15. last — to go on
  16. shower — to wash
  17. wind — moving air
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. content — the amount
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. shower — rain
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. chair — a leader
  24. object — to protest

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