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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. land — to come down
  3. band — a ring
  4. toast — bread
  5. chair — a leader
  6. land — ground
  7. toast — the most admired
  8. bore — to tire
  9. mate — to breed
  10. wind — moving air
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. mate — a friend
  15. squash — the sport
  16. wind — moving air
  17. mate — a partner
  18. bore — to drill
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. squash — to crush
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. band — a music group
  23. land — a country
  24. wind — to turn a key

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