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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. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. chair — a leader
  3. staff — employees
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. pit — a hole
  6. lie — to recline
  7. snap — to click
  8. cell — a phone
  9. staff — a stick
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. fall — to drop
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. pit — in a race
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. fall — the season
  16. scale — in music
  17. cell — in biology
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. fall — to drop
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. scale — size or range

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