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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. chest — of your body
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. ball — a dance
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. ball — a great time
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. chest — a box
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. file — a document
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. file — a line of people
  16. shower — rain
  17. chair — a leader
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. chest — of your body
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. shower — to wash
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. patient — a sick person

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