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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.

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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. game — wild animals
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. chair — a leader
  6. cap — a hat
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. fall — to drop
  9. snap — to click
  10. fall — to drop
  11. prune — to trim
  12. fall — the season
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. mark — a grade
  16. mark — a trace
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. prune — to trim
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. pitch — completely
  22. cap — of ice
  23. cap — a lid
  24. game — a match

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