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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 120 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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. chair — a leader
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. saw — the tool
  5. file — a tool
  6. deal — to handle
  7. saw — the tool
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. file — a line of people
  10. craft — a skill
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. file — a document
  14. craft — boats
  15. dip — to sink
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. cell — in biology
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. cell — a phone

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