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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. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a list
  2. hand — help
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. stand — to bear
  5. march — the month
  6. march — music
  7. row — a line
  8. shower — rain
  9. hand — in cards
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. row — to paddle
  14. march — the month
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. chair — a leader
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. roll — a cake
  21. scale — in music
  22. scale — size or range
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. shower — to wash

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