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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. net — for catching
  3. cold — not warm
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. mate — to breed
  6. mate — a friend
  7. net — in sport
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. bulb — for light
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. chair — a leader
  14. net — after costs
  15. mug — a cup
  16. cold — an illness
  17. mate — a partner
  18. mug — to rob
  19. mug — a face
  20. shower — to wash
  21. bat — the animal
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. shower — rain
  24. bulb — for light

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