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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. cold — an illness
  3. mug — a cup
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. net — for catching
  7. net — in sport
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. chair — a leader
  12. pitch — completely
  13. cold — not warm
  14. mug — to rob
  15. pop — soda
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. pop — to visit
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. pop — music
  23. net — after costs
  24. mug — a face

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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