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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. lie — to recline
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. rest — what's left
  5. clip — for paper
  6. rest — a break
  7. chair — a leader
  8. clip — to cut
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. season — in sport
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. row — to paddle
  20. clip — a video
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. row — a line
  23. season — of the year
  24. rest — what's left

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