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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. net — for catching
  4. tear — from crying
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. bear — the animal
  9. chair — a leader
  10. net — after costs
  11. fork — in a road
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. game — wild animals
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. shower — rain
  18. game — a match
  19. tear — to rip
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. tear — from crying
  23. bear — the animal
  24. shower — to wash

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