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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. bulb — for light
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. pitch — completely
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. cell — in biology
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. cold — not warm
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. cell — a phone
  18. lie — to recline
  19. chair — a leader
  20. bulb — for light
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. coach — a trainer

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