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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. The water is too ________________.
  3. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. cold — not warm
  3. bay — to keep at bay
  4. fall — the season
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. shower — rain
  9. branch — a division
  10. bay — a part of the sea
  11. object — a thing
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. fall — to drop
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. fall — to drop
  18. cold — an illness
  19. object — an aim
  20. object — to protest
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. shower — to wash
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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