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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. ground — a position
  4. wind — moving air
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. key — the most important part
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. ground — crushed
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. ground — the earth
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. wind — moving air
  14. fall — to drop
  15. fall — to drop
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. bound — obliged
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. key — for a lock
  20. chair — a leader
  21. key — in music
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. bound — tied together
  24. bound — certain

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