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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 116 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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. rule — a law
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. file — a line of people
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. file — a document
  7. file — a tool
  8. hand — in cards
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. band — a ring
  11. content — happy
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. rule — government
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. hand — help
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. content — the amount
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. band — a music group
  23. lean — to bend
  24. lean — thin

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