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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. land — a country
  3. bear — the animal
  4. chair — a leader
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. bore — to tire
  8. race — a contest
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. game — wild animals
  12. bear — the animal
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. land — ground
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. race — humankind
  19. bat — the animal
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. bore — to drill
  23. game — a match
  24. race — the arms race

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