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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. land — a country
  5. band — a ring
  6. shower — rain
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. last — final
  10. land — to come down
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. ruler — a monarch
  13. shower — to wash
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. squash — to crush
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. squash — the sport
  18. last — finally
  19. land — ground
  20. chair — a leader
  21. band — a music group
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. last — to go on
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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