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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.

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Word bank
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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: hide · club · march · chair · tear · saw

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  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. chair — to sit on
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. club — for dancing
  4. march — the month
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. tear — to rip
  7. march — the month
  8. saw — the tool
  9. march — music
  10. club — for golf
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. tear — from crying
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. tear — from crying
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. chair — a leader
  17. saw — the tool
  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