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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. net — for catching
  5. rest — what's left
  6. cell — a phone
  7. cue — a signal
  8. race — a contest
  9. kid — child
  10. snap — to click
  11. cue — a hint
  12. rest — what's left
  13. cell — in biology
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. net — in sport
  16. kid — to tease
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. race — humankind
  19. net — after costs
  20. rest — a break
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. race — the arms race
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. cue — for pool

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