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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. chair — a leader
  3. pop — soda
  4. race — the arms race
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. swing — to play on
  7. pop — to visit
  8. shower — rain
  9. swing — in golf
  10. pop — music
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. race — humankind
  15. race — a contest
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. branch — a division
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. swing — music
  21. rush — hurry
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. rush — a thrill

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