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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. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. date — the fruit
  3. staff — employees
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. fall — to drop
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. rash — hasty
  8. last — to go on
  9. rash — a series
  10. mate — a partner
  11. fall — to drop
  12. fall — the season
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. last — finally
  15. last — final
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. mate — to breed
  18. staff — employees
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. saw — the tool
  21. chair — a leader
  22. staff — a stick
  23. mate — a friend
  24. saw — the tool

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