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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 120 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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. mine — for digging
  3. bark — to shout
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. spell — letters
  10. rock — a stone
  11. chest — of your body
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. chair — a leader
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. rock — music
  16. chest — of your body
  17. chest — a box
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. spell — magic
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. wind — moving air
  24. spell — a short time

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