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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. saw — the tool
  7. chair — a leader
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. cold — an illness
  10. chip — to eat
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. chip — for betting
  13. cold — not warm
  14. saw — the tool
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. perch — the fish
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. bat — the animal
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. rock — a stone
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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