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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. march — music
  4. chair — a leader
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. saw — the tool
  7. ground — a position
  8. ground — the earth
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. march — the month
  11. bass — low music
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. saw — the tool
  14. bat — the animal
  15. pit — a hole
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. pit — in a race
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. march — the month
  22. bass — the fish
  23. ground — crushed
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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