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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. roll — a cake
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. wound — an injury
  5. spell — magic
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. dip — to sink
  9. race — the arms race
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. wound — an injury
  12. band — a ring
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. stem — to come from
  15. spell — letters
  16. spell — a short time
  17. roll — a list
  18. race — a contest
  19. race — humankind
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. band — a music group
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. dip — to dunk

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