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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. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. fall — to drop
  4. chest — a box
  5. rest — a break
  6. net — in sport
  7. fall — the season
  8. prune — to trim
  9. rest — what's left
  10. chair — a leader
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. fall — to drop
  13. file — a tool
  14. board — to get on
  15. chest — of your body
  16. net — for catching
  17. file — a document
  18. board — a committee
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. file — a line of people
  21. prune — to trim
  22. chest — of your body
  23. net — after costs
  24. rest — what's left

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