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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 116 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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. chair — a leader
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. file — a tool
  6. file — a line of people
  7. hand — help
  8. file — a document
  9. hand — in cards
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tear — to rip
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. tear — from crying

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