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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. present — the time now
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. cold — not warm
  5. swing — in golf
  6. swing — music
  7. cap — of ice
  8. chair — a leader
  9. cap — a hat
  10. present — there
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. drill — the tool
  13. present — a gift
  14. cold — an illness
  15. drill — a practice
  16. cap — a lid
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. scale — in music
  19. swing — to play on
  20. mark — a trace
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. drill — army training
  23. mark — a grade
  24. scale — for weighing

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