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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. shower — rain
  3. chest — of your body
  4. mine — for digging
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. march — music
  7. chest — a box
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. bulb — for light
  10. march — the month
  11. bound — certain
  12. march — the month
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. bulb — for light
  17. hand — in cards
  18. shower — to wash
  19. hand — help
  20. bound — obliged
  21. chest — of your body
  22. bound — tied together
  23. chair — a leader
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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