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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. chair — a leader
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. wind — moving air
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. ruler — a monarch
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. perch — the fish
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. pit — a hole
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. wind — moving air
  22. pit — in a race
  23. fork — in a road
  24. cold — not warm

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