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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. bass — low music
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. bear — the animal
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. bear — the animal
  8. last — to go on
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. spell — magic
  11. perch — the fish
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. bass — the fish
  14. chair — a leader
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. last — finally
  17. spell — letters
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. shower — to wash
  20. bore — to drill
  21. spell — a short time
  22. last — final
  23. bore — to tire
  24. shower — rain

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