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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. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  20. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. pitch — completely
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. net — for catching
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — an illness
  7. spell — magic
  8. spell — letters
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. race — the arms race
  12. race — a contest
  13. spell — a short time
  14. key — the most important part
  15. key — for a lock
  16. net — after costs
  17. key — in music
  18. chair — a leader
  19. firm — a company
  20. firm — steady
  21. race — humankind
  22. firm — decided
  23. net — in sport
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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