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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. net — in sport
  3. race — the arms race
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. race — humankind
  7. sharp — clever
  8. board — to get on
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. cell — a phone
  11. chair — a leader
  12. march — music
  13. net — for catching
  14. board — a committee
  15. march — the month
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. race — a contest
  19. net — after costs
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. cell — in biology
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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