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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. charge — electricity
  4. wind — moving air
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. ground — crushed
  7. charge — in control
  8. clip — to cut
  9. ground — the earth
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. clip — for paper
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. wake — a trail
  15. clip — a video
  16. season — in sport
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. charge — a price
  19. ground — a position
  20. season — of the year
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. chair — a leader
  24. wind — moving air

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