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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. bass — the fish
  4. race — a contest
  5. face — part of the head
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. chair — a leader
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. swing — music
  11. face — to confront
  12. swing — in golf
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. race — humankind
  16. bass — low music
  17. fall — the season
  18. rash — hasty
  19. fall — to drop
  20. swing — to play on
  21. fall — to drop
  22. race — the arms race
  23. face — to point toward
  24. rash — a series

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