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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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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: chair · last · mug · snap · shower · march · game · lean

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. mug — to rob
  3. lean — thin
  4. game — a match
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. shower — rain
  7. mug — a face
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. march — the month
  10. march — the month
  11. last — final
  12. chair — a leader
  13. last — to go on
  14. last — finally
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. shower — to wash
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. lean — to bend
  20. mug — a cup
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. march — music
  23. snap — to click
  24. chair — to sit on

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