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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. file — a document
  3. wind — moving air
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. drill — a practice
  6. file — a line of people
  7. prune — to trim
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. wind — moving air
  13. swing — to play on
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. drill — army training
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. prune — to trim
  18. swing — in golf
  19. file — a tool
  20. drill — the tool
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. mine — for digging
  24. swing — music

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