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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. net — in sport
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. tube — the underground
  5. squash — to crush
  6. land — ground
  7. wind — moving air
  8. tube — a container
  9. net — for catching
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. kick — in football
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. chair — a leader
  14. land — to come down
  15. net — after costs
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. wind — moving air
  18. squash — the sport
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. land — a country
  24. stem — to come from

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