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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. chair — a leader
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. spring — a coil
  7. key — the most important part
  8. file — a document
  9. cell — in biology
  10. spring — of water
  11. wind — moving air
  12. file — a tool
  13. roll — a cake
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. key — for a lock
  16. roll — a list
  17. cell — a phone
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. spring — the season
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. key — in music
  23. file — a line of people
  24. chair — to sit on

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