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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. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. pass — a permit
  3. band — a ring
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. tube — a container
  7. ground — the earth
  8. hand — in cards
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. rest — what's left
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. tube — the underground
  13. ground — crushed
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. chair — a leader
  16. ground — a position
  17. rest — what's left
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. shower — rain
  20. rest — a break
  21. band — a music group
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. hand — help
  24. shower — to wash

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