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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. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. spring — of water
  3. mate — to breed
  4. spring — the season
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. pit — a hole
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. bound — obliged
  12. spring — a coil
  13. pit — in a race
  14. scale — size or range
  15. scale — in music
  16. file — a tool
  17. mate — a partner
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. file — a line of people
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. bound — tied together
  22. mate — a friend
  23. file — a document
  24. chair — a leader

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