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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. tear — from crying
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bark — to shout
  11. tear — to rip
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. rock — a stone
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. kick — in football
  16. chair — a leader
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. tear — from crying
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. rush — hurry
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. rock — music
  24. coach — a trainer

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