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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. When will it ________________ you to start?
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. wound — an injury
  3. rest — what's left
  4. wound — an injury
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. prune — to trim
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. suit — in cards
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. suit — to fit
  11. prune — to trim
  12. chair — a leader
  13. tear — to rip
  14. field — farmland
  15. field — a subject
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. tear — from crying
  18. rest — what's left
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. rest — a break
  21. tear — from crying
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. field — for sport
  24. suit — clothes

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