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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. track — a song
  3. chest — of your body
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. track — to keep track
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. chest — of your body
  9. hand — in cards
  10. track — a path
  11. chest — a box
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. pop — to visit
  15. clip — to cut
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. clip — a video
  18. pop — soda
  19. pop — music
  20. hand — help
  21. chair — a leader
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. clip — for paper

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