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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. cold — not warm
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. lie — to recline
  6. cold — an illness
  7. deal — to handle
  8. game — a match
  9. field — farmland
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. game — wild animals
  14. content — the amount
  15. ruler — a monarch
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. field — for sport
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. content — happy
  22. field — a subject
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. cold — the Cold War

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