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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  4. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. pit — a hole
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. land — ground
  7. race — a contest
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. bass — low music
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. bass — the fish
  12. ruler — a monarch
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. ground — the earth
  15. chair — a leader
  16. ground — a position
  17. pit — in a race
  18. race — humankind
  19. land — a country
  20. race — the arms race
  21. cold — an illness
  22. land — to come down
  23. ground — crushed
  24. cold — not warm

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