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

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. bat — the animal
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. field — for sport
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. field — farmland
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. fall — to drop
  9. row — a line
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. row — to paddle
  12. field — a subject
  13. fall — to drop
  14. fall — the season
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. ruler — a monarch
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. chair — a professorship

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