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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 who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. fall — to drop
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. perch — the fish
  5. content — happy
  6. mug — a face
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. race — the arms race
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. prune — to trim
  12. fall — to drop
  13. mug — a cup
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. chair — a leader
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. pound — a weight
  18. fall — the season
  19. race — humankind
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. race — a contest
  22. prune — to trim
  23. mug — to rob
  24. content — the amount

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