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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 116 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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. face — to point toward
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. stock — goods
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. chair — a leader
  10. race — humankind
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. court — of law
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. face — to confront
  15. court — of a king
  16. stock — shares
  17. cold — not warm
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. face — part of the head
  21. court — for sport
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. race — the arms race
  24. leaves — of a tree

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