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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bore · file · club · chair · last · tear

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. bore — to tire
  4. chair — a leader
  5. last — final
  6. club — for golf
  7. file — a document
  8. tear — to rip
  9. last — to go on
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. tear — from crying
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. tear — from crying
  14. bore — to drill
  15. club — for dancing
  16. last — finally
  17. file — a line of people
  18. club — a group

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