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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. chair — a leader
  6. dip — to sink
  7. fall — to drop
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. can — a tin
  10. can — to be able to
  11. race — a contest
  12. net — after costs
  13. cold — not warm
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. cold — an illness
  16. can — a tin
  17. vault — a safe
  18. net — in sport
  19. fall — to drop
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. race — the arms race
  23. fall — the season
  24. race — humankind

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