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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. drill — army training
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. shower — to wash
  9. scale — in music
  10. drill — the tool
  11. shower — rain
  12. cold — an illness
  13. drill — a practice
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. chair — a leader
  16. scale — size or range
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. firm — steady
  20. firm — a company
  21. firm — decided
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. perch — the fish
  24. patient — a sick person

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