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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. field — farmland
  5. saw — the tool
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. cold — not warm
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. cue — a signal
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. cue — a hint
  14. field — a subject
  15. snap — to click
  16. saw — the tool
  17. cue — for pool
  18. cold — an illness
  19. squash — to crush
  20. branch — a division
  21. squash — the sport
  22. field — for sport
  23. chair — a leader
  24. squash — the vegetable

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