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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. chair — a leader
  3. key — for a lock
  4. key — in music
  5. spell — magic
  6. cap — a lid
  7. rest — a break
  8. prune — to trim
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. tear — from crying
  12. spell — a short time
  13. rest — what's left
  14. saw — the tool
  15. cap — a hat
  16. cap — of ice
  17. key — the most important part
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. tear — to rip
  20. rest — what's left
  21. prune — to trim
  22. tear — from crying
  23. spell — letters
  24. saw — the tool

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