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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. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. file — a document
  3. swing — to play on
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. file — a line of people
  6. degree — temperature
  7. degree — an amount
  8. swing — in golf
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. drill — the tool
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. drill — a practice
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. degree — from a university
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. drill — army training
  17. file — a tool
  18. chair — a leader
  19. swing — music
  20. hand — help
  21. hand — in cards
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. wave — of the sea

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