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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 120 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 polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. cap — of ice
  3. game — a match
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. march — music
  6. march — the month
  7. hand — help
  8. hand — in cards
  9. game — wild animals
  10. cap — a hat
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. march — the month
  13. chair — a leader
  14. cap — a lid
  15. rush — hurry
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. spring — a coil
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. spring — of water
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. spring — the season

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