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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. field — farmland
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. scale — in music
  5. chair — a leader
  6. field — for sport
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. race — a contest
  9. scale — size or range
  10. race — the arms race
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. board — a committee
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. field — a subject
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. chest — a box
  17. snap — to click
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wind — moving air
  20. race — humankind
  21. chest — of your body
  22. chest — of your body
  23. board — to get on
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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