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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. pitch — completely
  5. stand — to bear
  6. snap — to click
  7. chair — a leader
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. wind — moving air
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. drill — a practice
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. wind — moving air
  20. bat — the animal
  21. craft — boats
  22. craft — a skill
  23. drill — the tool
  24. drill — army training

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