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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 116 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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  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. chair — to sit on
  2. cap — a lid
  3. saw — the tool
  4. saw — the tool
  5. craft — boats
  6. file — a tool
  7. cap — a hat
  8. court — for sport
  9. bass — low music
  10. court — of law
  11. bass — the fish
  12. tear — to rip
  13. cap — of ice
  14. file — a line of people
  15. chair — a leader
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. court — of a king
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. tear — from crying
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. craft — a skill
  22. tear — from crying
  23. file — a document
  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