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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. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. stick — to attach or keep to
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. cold — not warm
  5. ground — the earth
  6. cold — an illness
  7. ground — crushed
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. lean — thin
  11. net — after costs
  12. lean — to bend
  13. ground — a position
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. net — for catching
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. chair — a leader
  22. scale — size or range
  23. net — in sport
  24. scale — in music

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