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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. mug — a face
  3. bat — the animal
  4. tube — a container
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. tube — the underground
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. mark — a grade
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. chair — a leader
  12. cold — not warm
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. pit — in a race
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. mug — to rob
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. mug — a cup
  19. cold — an illness
  20. scale — in music
  21. mark — a trace
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. scale — size or range
  24. pit — a hole

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