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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 120 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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. kid — child
  4. key — for a lock
  5. hand — in cards
  6. saw — the tool
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. saw — the tool
  10. key — the most important part
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. chair — a leader
  14. key — in music
  15. hand — help
  16. pass — a permit
  17. kid — to tease
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. bat — the animal
  24. pass — to succeed

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