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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. chair — a leader
  3. mark — a grade
  4. sharp — clever
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. mark — a trace
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. wound — an injury
  16. plane — a tool
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. clip — a video
  19. wound — an injury
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. clip — for paper
  22. clip — to cut
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. sharp — exactly

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