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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. bark — to shout
  4. track — to keep track
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. wind — moving air
  8. mine — for digging
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. file — a line of people
  11. perch — the fish
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. wind — moving air
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. file — a document
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. track — a song
  21. track — a path
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. chair — a leader
  24. file — a tool

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