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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · mine · field · rule · content · rush · saw · arm

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. content — happy
  6. saw — the tool
  7. field — farmland
  8. field — for sport
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. mine — for digging
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. rule — government
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. chair — a leader
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. rule — a law
  18. rush — hurry
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. saw — the tool
  23. field — a subject
  24. content — the amount

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