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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. cell — in biology
  5. net — after costs
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. cap — of ice
  8. rule — government
  9. net — for catching
  10. last — final
  11. net — in sport
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. content — the amount
  15. content — happy
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. rule — a law
  18. cell — a phone
  19. cap — a lid
  20. last — to go on
  21. chair — a leader
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. cap — a hat
  24. lash — an eyelash

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