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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.

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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. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — on your feet
  2. tear — from crying
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. cold — an illness
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. cap — a lid
  9. bat — the animal
  10. stand — to bear
  11. swing — in golf
  12. cap — of ice
  13. tear — to rip
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. chair — a leader
  16. swing — music
  17. craft — boats
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. craft — a skill
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. swing — to play on
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cap — a hat
  24. tear — from crying

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