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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. fall — the season
  3. net — after costs
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. fine — high quality
  7. row — a line
  8. wind — moving air
  9. last — final
  10. net — for catching
  11. fall — to drop
  12. fine — all right
  13. fall — to drop
  14. last — finally
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. last — to go on
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. net — in sport
  20. row — to paddle
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. chair — a leader
  24. wind — moving air

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