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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. drill — the tool
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. mine — for digging
  6. march — the month
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. march — music
  9. drill — a practice
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. track — a song
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. scale — in music
  16. track — a path
  17. hand — in cards
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. track — to keep track
  20. march — the month
  21. hand — help
  22. scale — size or range
  23. drill — army training
  24. scale — for weighing

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