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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.

Make a worksheet

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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Word bank
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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  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 — to sit on
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. current — of water
  4. tube — a container
  5. chair — a leader
  6. rest — what's left
  7. rest — what's left
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. file — a line of people
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. cold — not warm
  12. rest — a break
  13. cold — an illness
  14. tube — the underground
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. file — a tool
  17. current — electric
  18. current — happening now
  19. file — a document
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. chair — a professorship
  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