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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. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. perch — the fish
  5. cold — not warm
  6. march — the month
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. file — a line of people
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. chair — a leader
  11. last — final
  12. file — a tool
  13. march — the month
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. cold — an illness
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. last — to go on
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. march — music
  23. last — finally
  24. pitch — completely

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