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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. last — finally
  4. ground — the earth
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. vault — a safe
  11. ground — crushed
  12. spring — of water
  13. shower — rain
  14. chair — a leader
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. spring — a coil
  17. spring — the season
  18. bound — obliged
  19. bound — certain
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. last — to go on
  22. shower — to wash
  23. bound — tied together
  24. ground — a position

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