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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. march — the month
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. mark — a trace
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. wound — an injury
  10. march — music
  11. cell — a phone
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. date — the fruit
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. march — the month
  17. cell — in biology
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. mark — a grade
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. wound — an injury
  23. chair — a leader
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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