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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. wound — an injury
  3. chair — a leader
  4. wound — an injury
  5. charge — electricity
  6. spring — of water
  7. charge — a price
  8. race — the arms race
  9. stem — to come from
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. spring — a coil
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. shower — rain
  16. shower — to wash
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. charge — in control
  19. spring — the season
  20. race — a contest
  21. race — humankind
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. stem — a stem cell

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