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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 124 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 would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. object — an aim
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. prune — to trim
  5. chair — a leader
  6. rest — what's left
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. wound — an injury
  9. object — a thing
  10. bat — the animal
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. object — to protest
  13. rest — what's left
  14. prune — to trim
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. cap — a hat
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. cap — of ice
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. wound — an injury
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. cap — a lid

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