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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. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. jam — a tight spot
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. fine — all right
  6. jam — to spread on bread
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. bat — the animal
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. jam — in traffic
  13. tear — from crying
  14. cold — an illness
  15. vault — a safe
  16. land — ground
  17. land — to come down
  18. cold — not warm
  19. land — a country
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. fine — high quality
  23. tear — from crying
  24. tear — to rip

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