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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. march — the month
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. chair — a leader
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. pound — a weight
  10. firm — a company
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. squash — the sport
  15. cell — a phone
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. march — the month
  18. march — music
  19. firm — decided
  20. squash — to crush
  21. cell — in biology
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. firm — steady

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