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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 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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. cell — in biology
  3. object — to protest
  4. can — a tin
  5. stand — to bear
  6. wind — moving air
  7. cell — a phone
  8. spring — a coil
  9. cap — a lid
  10. can — a tin
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. object — an aim
  13. object — a thing
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. cap — of ice
  16. spring — of water
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. wind — moving air
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. can — to be able to
  21. cap — a hat
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. spring — the season

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