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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The tickets are free of ________________.
  18. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. chair — a leader
  3. hand — help
  4. squash — to crush
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. lie — to recline
  7. march — music
  8. tear — to rip
  9. sharp — clever
  10. march — the month
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. charge — electricity
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. squash — the sport
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. hand — in cards
  17. charge — a price
  18. charge — in control
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. march — the month
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. tear — from crying
  23. tear — from crying
  24. sharp — exactly

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