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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  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. scale — size or range
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. drill — a practice
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. wake — a trail
  7. spell — a short time
  8. spell — magic
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. cap — a hat
  11. cap — a lid
  12. hand — in cards
  13. drill — the tool
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. cap — of ice
  16. spell — letters
  17. file — a line of people
  18. drill — army training
  19. scale — in music
  20. file — a document
  21. file — a tool
  22. hand — help
  23. wake — before a funeral
  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