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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. spring — the season
  3. last — to go on
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. last — finally
  6. ball — a great time
  7. spring — a coil
  8. rule — a law
  9. last — final
  10. ball — a dance
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. rule — government
  13. field — a subject
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. wind — moving air
  16. tube — a container
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. spring — of water
  19. chair — a leader
  20. field — for sport
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. tube — the underground
  23. wind — moving air
  24. field — farmland

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