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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 116 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. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. game — a match
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. track — to keep track
  8. chair — a leader
  9. land — a country
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. snap — to click
  13. land — to come down
  14. clip — for paper
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. track — a song
  17. clip — a video
  18. land — ground
  19. game — wild animals
  20. squash — the sport
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. squash — to crush
  23. track — a path
  24. clip — to cut

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