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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. file — a document
  4. chair — a leader
  5. bass — the fish
  6. cell — a phone
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. degree — an amount
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. bass — low music
  14. cell — in biology
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. degree — from a university
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. pitch — completely
  20. degree — temperature
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. file — a line of people
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. file — a tool

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