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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 116 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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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. trunk — of a car
  4. fall — to drop
  5. clip — a video
  6. shower — rain
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. clip — for paper
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. fork — in a road
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. clip — to cut
  14. craft — a skill
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. content — the amount
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. content — happy
  21. chair — a leader
  22. shower — to wash
  23. fall — to drop
  24. craft — boats

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