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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. spell — a short time
  3. field — farmland
  4. race — humankind
  5. fall — to drop
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. field — for sport
  11. race — a contest
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. race — the arms race
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. snap — to click
  16. fall — to drop
  17. spell — letters
  18. fall — the season
  19. stand — to bear
  20. sharp — clever
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. field — a subject
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. spell — magic

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