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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. My mare is ________________ in color.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. file — a document
  3. perch — the fish
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. file — a tool
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cold — not warm
  8. march — the month
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. file — a line of people
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. rock — music
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. chair — a leader
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. wax — to grow
  17. march — music
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. bay — a horse colour
  23. rock — a stone
  24. march — the month

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