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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. rush — hurry
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. content — happy
  8. chair — a leader
  9. hand — in cards
  10. content — the amount
  11. stem — to come from
  12. hand — help
  13. shower — rain
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. stand — to bear
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. shower — to wash
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. content — videos and posts

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