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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. shower — to wash
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. spring — the season
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. ground — the earth
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. wound — an injury
  10. track — a song
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. spring — of water
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. content — the amount
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. spring — a coil
  17. ground — a position
  18. track — a path
  19. content — happy
  20. shower — rain
  21. track — to keep track
  22. ground — crushed
  23. chair — a leader
  24. wound — an injury

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