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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 120 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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. shower — to wash
  4. chair — a leader
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. prune — to trim
  8. staff — a stick
  9. mine — for digging
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. tube — the underground
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. staff — employees
  17. prune — to trim
  18. pitch — completely
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. tube — a container
  23. shower — rain
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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