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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 120 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: wind · lean · foot · track · march · chair · deal · cold

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. foot — a measure
  3. march — the month
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. foot — the bottom
  6. lean — thin
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. track — a song
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. lean — to bend
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — an illness
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. track — to keep track
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. wind — moving air
  17. track — a path
  18. march — the month
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. deal — to handle
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. wind — moving air
  23. march — music
  24. deal — a big deal

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