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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. lean — to bend
  3. chest — of your body
  4. mine — for digging
  5. bore — to drill
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. chest — of your body
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. chest — a box
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. fork — in a road
  13. mate — a friend
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. mate — to breed
  16. tear — to rip
  17. bore — to tire
  18. mate — a partner
  19. lean — thin
  20. tear — from crying
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. tear — from crying

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