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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  8. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. cold — an illness
  7. toast — bread
  8. toast — the most admired
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. cold — not warm
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. snap — to click
  13. row — to paddle
  14. craft — a skill
  15. chair — a leader
  16. toast — a drink to someone
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. row — a line
  20. game — wild animals
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. craft — boats

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