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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. chair — a leader
  6. content — happy
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. ball — a great time
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. cold — an illness
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. roll — a list
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. roll — a cake
  18. pitch — completely
  19. content — the amount
  20. ball — a dance
  21. cold — not warm
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. ball — a round shape

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