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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. hand — in cards
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. march — music
  5. rest — a break
  6. root — of a word
  7. clip — to cut
  8. clip — for paper
  9. march — the month
  10. rash — a series
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. root — of a plant
  13. rest — what's left
  14. rash — hasty
  15. rest — what's left
  16. root — the cause
  17. shower — rain
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. shower — to wash
  21. clip — a video
  22. hand — help
  23. march — the month
  24. chair — a leader

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